Perplexed Alliance
by Aeon'sChild
Summary: Voldemort's attacks are getting worse yet life at Hogwarts goes on; will eventually be H/D slash later on in the story.
1. Prick

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Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: Will be Harry/Draco slash eventually, but not yet. Enjoy, and please review! ^-^;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
  
  
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CHAPTER 1  
  
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Harry sighed, staring at the mirror, fussing with his collar.  
  
"Damn these dress robes," he cursed furiously, trying to force down the royal emerald collar.  
  
"You look quite charming, dear," the mirror wheezed at him.  
  
Harry shook his head, and picked up some muggle's hair gel Hermione had given to him.  
  
"You really need to put this to use," she had said, eyeing his unruly hair, having to crane her neck upwards. He had grown considerably taller than what he used to be.  
  
So he stuck a finger in the goo and made a face.  
  
"It ain't happenin', Harry. That hair of yours will just ping back up again," Ron said from behind him. He was dressed in black dress robes. He didn't really look any different from when he was studying or in class. He'd had enough of standing out with vibrant colours and lace. Harry grinned to himself at the memory of the Yule ball in their fourth year.  
  
"Shall we get going?" Ron said smoothly, holding his hand towards the door.  
  
"Shut your face," Harry replied, straightening his thin wire frames. He had long changed his boyish, round glasses. Actually, he changed them once he realized that Quidditch-related muscles, tanned skin and an apparently "cute" hairstyle (quoted by a group of sixth year witches) did NOT belong with kiddy glasses. And that happened right at the start of his fifth year. Hermione had transfigured the glasses into better-looking, thin, black, rectangular frames.  
  
He was, in fact, in his last month of his seventh year at Hogwarts. His last month... So much had happened in the past few years.  
  
Attacks from Voldemort had gone from small murders, whispered in taverns, to a full out war. Muggles were now informed that foreign terrorists were roaming the country and should stay in safety. Wizards and witches were to stay indoors after sundown, and at all times, there were Aurors and ministry wizards guarding the whole of the wizarding world, and even some under disguise, guarding the muggle world. It was insane. And with the constant news of Voldemort's antics, Harry had double the attention, because people were sure something would happen, involving him. And so his popularity soared.  
  
Yet Hogwarts itself had hardly changed. The atmosphere was a little more tense, and there was always people crying, clutching letters or newspaper clippings with news of their parents' death. But apart from that, Hogwarts was Hogwarts, with the normal lessons and teenage lives constantly flinging from emotion to emotion. Indeed a lot of people were now no longer innocent teenagers, and there were people being caught in empty classrooms in the middle of the night, making love behind stacked desks. The sixth and seventh years had learnt within the first week of their school year that such acts were punished with hour-long detentions every night for a week. The guilty were usually found by Peeves, who later gave out the details to the other sixth and seventh years, much to the annoyance of McGonagall.  
  
And so life went on, amidst the darkest times in the history of wizarding kind. A sign of the strange normality was Draco Malfoy. His appearance had changed remarkably, if nothing else. He was now a complete opposite of Harry. Draco was not muscled, but skinny. He was tall, slender and quite pale. His terribly light-blue eyes flickered menacingly from student to student as he strutted the halls, making people look away or hurry off, quite terrified. His silver hair was often being toyed with by a Slytherin girl hanging off his arm, Crabbe and Goyle in tow, still much as they had been.  
  
Draco had had so many girlfriends and treated each one so often that he had the sexual-act punishment lined up for months that would have lasted long after he graduated, to which he laughed and gloated about.  
  
To any person not in Slytherin, there was no doubt he was either a Death Eater or almost one, and he was hated for it. And yet no one except the seventh year Gryffindor boys dared say a bad word against him. Such was the fear that Malfoy managed to produce around the school. But he was a student, and was treated like one, and the teachers seemed to have no fear about his family being involved in the dark arts. Either that or nobody wanted to be the first to point the finger, lest revenge fall upon them.  
  
  
  
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Harry sighed, walking down the dormitory stairs, earning more than a few glances from Gryffindor girls. He didn't have a date, and didn't want one. He and Ron were going to the ball just for the fun of it.  
  
And so, twenty minutes later with a troupe of giggling, date-less girls watching them, Harry and Ron found themselves in a corner of the Great Hall, swigging down more Butterbeer than was wise, watching Hermione dance with her date. "Can't believe she scored him, though," Ron said, and belched.  
  
"Yeah, I know, but hey, he's a Ravenclaw. Pretty boy or not, he's smart. Guess that's why she likes him so much," Harry replied, watching the tall blonde Ravenclaw smiling at Hermione, leading her in a weird kind of swaying waltz.  
  
"I can't believe he'd stoop so low as to go out with a Mudblood bitch," a cold voice commented. Harry looked up and, as a result of his Butterbeer, was more than ready for something 'good' to happen at the boring dance.  
  
He leapt to his feet, and stared Draco Malfoy in the face. They were the same height, but Harry, having more muscles, seemed to physically daunt the pale Slytherin. Thought not mentally.  
  
Draco sneered, a silver lock of hair falling in front of his face.  
  
Harry grabbed the Slytherin's collar. "What did you just say about Hermione?" Harry snarled.  
  
Draco smiled coldly. His icy-blue eyes flickered down to Harry's feet, then moved upwards slowly, taking in the brand new dress robes and the new silver watch that was revealed as Harry held Draco by the collar.  
  
"My, my: somebody seems to be flourishing in these dreadfully dark times."  
  
"I asked you a question. What did you just say about Hermione, you git?" Harry tightened his grip.  
  
"Oh, simply stating the truth about that good for nothing Mudblood. And I thought Ravenclaws were supposed to be intelligent," Draco said softly, shaking his head accusingly, then spat directly onto Harry's Head Boy badge.  
  
"POTTER! MALFOY! GIVE IT A REST!" It was McGonagall, currently being twirled about by Hagrid.  
  
Professor McGonagall had, like the other teachers, become used to the semi- serious conflicts between Draco and Harry. It occurred quite often in the hallways.  
  
Harry abruptly let go of Malfoy, and sat down. Draco gave a last smirk and backed off to the other end of the room, gathered his newest girlfriend into his arms and started making out with her. She was wider than he was as he pinned her body to the wall.  
  
Ron shuddered at it.  
  
"What's up with YOU? You used to jump at the chance to get your hands on him," Harry snapped at Ron, who had held back from the argument.  
  
"Seems like your territory, really. It's become kinda regular, ever since our fifth year. You two are the main topic of every gossip this school has. And anyway, I can't be bothered wasting my breath with him."  
  
Harry fell silent, strangely proud about this. He shook his head, stood up and refused yet another invitation to dance and headed up the marble staircase.  
  
Ron stayed behind, swigging down more Butterbeer, glaring at the girls who were ordering him to persuade Harry to come back.  
  
He set down his beer and yelled at them over the music that perving wasn't the only thing dances were good for, and offered them a Butterbeer.  
  
  
  
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"Potter."  
  
Harry turned slowly on the middle landing of the stairs, knowing what was about to happen. He fingered the wand in his pocket.  
  
Draco stood a few stairs below him. He was very stealthy, owing to his light figure, and Harry hadn't heard the Slytherin stalking him. He really had changed. He had gone from the schoolyard bully to a sort of...white devil. There was no word for it. Harry looked upon the boy now so pale who appeared strange without a girl clinging to him. His white-silver hair blew around his head as a draft blew down the stairs. It was amazing that a boy so strangely coloured could be so evil.  
  
"What now, you bastard?" Harry spat.  
  
"Just wanted a word with you, Harry, that's all."  
  
Harry stared.  
  
"Didn't know we were on a first name basis, Draco," Harry replied, emphasising the boy's name.  
  
"Oh, I wonder why," Draco said sarcastically, dropping the fake friendliness. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his vampire-like jet black dress robes, and slowly sauntered up the last few stairs until he was on Harry's landing. He kept his eyes to the floor, keeping Harry to his right side.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" Harry asked warily.  
  
Draco turned to him, and Harry's eyes widened. Draco had suddenly turned a hell of a lot more paler, and his usually sharp, menacing eyes held a component Harry had rarely seen on the Slytherin: fear. He took a breath, and opened his mouth.  
  
"Ooooh, it's the two widdle rivals, having a civil conversation!!! Should tell the media, I should. WORLD BREAKING NEWS!!!" Peeves cackled, zooming around them in a wide circle. Draco's fear vanished as he bared his teeth and grabbed Peeves around the neck. Harry admitted to himself that even HE would have quailed under the look Draco gave the poltergeist.  
  
"Piss off, Peeves. I swear it on my own mother's grave that the Bloody Baron will beat you to the very fires of HELL if you don't piss off!" The poltergeist was so surprised that when he was dropped to the floor, he stayed there a few minutes, staring up at Draco with wide eyes. He then picked himself up and zoomed off quickly, around a corner, and they heard a distant door slam.  
  
Draco turned around and jogged down the stairs, his silver hair waving to and fro.  
  
"Wait!" Harry called, but it seemed that Draco had dismissed the importance of his problem, and he raised the finger at Harry over his shoulder.  
  
"Prick," Harry muttered.  
  
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	2. Dreamers

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PERPLEXED ALLIANCE  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: Will be H/D slash eventually, but not yet. ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
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CHAPTER 2  
  
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"So where'd you go last night, Mr Sensitive?" Seamus pried at Harry the next day in Potions.  
  
"Eh?" Harry asked, grinding beetles into powder.  
  
"The whole hall saw yet another clash between you and Salazar over there," Dean grinned, waving a fresh handful of beetles in Draco's direction, "And then you up and left."  
  
"20 points off Gryffindor for mindless chit chat in my dungeons; don't let me have the pleasure of taking more points off you today, Finnigan! LONGBOTTOM! Crush the blasted bugs, not shy away from them, for damn's sake! A further 10 points!"  
  
"Git," Ron muttered at Snape, who was currently prowling amongst the Gryffindors with a gleam in his eye.  
  
  
  
"Sir," Draco spoke up, breaking the silence that usually consisted of coughs, whispered conversations and soft mutters.  
  
For some unknown reason, Harry found he had to look up at Draco, and strangely enough, Draco was looking right back at him.  
  
Draco's almost grey, pale blue eyes were studying Harry with intense.what was it? Wariness? Skepticism? There was something in his eyes that Harry knew he must have been reflecting right back at Draco, and all he could feel, was a hollow heart, like he didn't know who anybody was anymore. Draco suddenly transformed before his eyes, and Malfoy the harassing teenager was suddenly Draco, a pale, skinny guy with amazing strength for his stature, an average Seeker, who had the weirdest hair colour Harry had ever seen: blonde was close, but it was more of a white-silver. These thoughts rushed into Harry's mind in a split-second, and suddenly the boys were alone in the room, everything white and empty apart from one another, and this Draco, this stranger, was standing before Harry, studying him with a wary acceptance.  
  
And then a blow to the ribs by Ron sent everything hurtling back into reality: Draco looked away, a strange look on his face. Snape was still stood behind Neville (no doubt causing the boy more fear), and had only just looked up at Draco as the boy had called his attention, which means the glance only lasted a split second.  
  
"Felt like minutes," Harry thought to himself, putting a hand to his head.  
  
"What the hell were you staring at?" Ron asked.  
  
"Nothing!" Harry said a little too quickly, jumping as he remembered his friends' existence.  
  
"Ahh, having erotic fantasies about Malfoy now, were we?" Dean grinned, waggling his eyebrows.  
  
Heat started to well up in Harry's face and he cursed himself inwardly.  
  
"No.course not," Harry replied shakily, in a voice most unlike his own.  
  
Everyone at the table stared.  
  
Seamus looked at Harry with a sort of wary suspicion, his eyebrows lowered in a slight frown.  
  
"No way." Dean said softly to Seamus, who replied:  
  
"Don't go there, Dean Thomas. Just don't even go there."  
  
Harry swallowed down his nervousness, too afraid to look anyone in the eye, only just realizing he was sweating. Hermione poked Harry in the arm.  
  
"Y-yeah?" Harry asked, still dazed by his 'encounter' with Draco.  
  
"Malfoy just asked to see Snape after class," Hermione hissed.  
  
"Yeah, so?" Ron replied, listening in, suddenly willing to change the subject as Dean and Seamus had moved a little way down the table, now whispering to one another softly.  
  
Harry stayed silent. Hermione put a hand to her forehead.  
  
"Haven't changed, have you Ron? Look, I bet he's going to tell Snape about what's bothering him."  
  
"How'd you know something's bothering him?" Harry asked, intrigued, forgetting his embarrassment.  
  
"Oh you two! Honestly! It's obvious to everyone: he's late for breakfast every morning, and when he does show up his eyes are red, like he's been crying."  
  
"Or like he's been taking d- " Ron started, but Hermione whacked him in the arm.  
  
"Listen to me, Ron!" Hermione began.  
  
A sinister voice said from behind them, "YOU THREE - 35 points for ignoring my instructions NOT to speak during class."  
  
And Snape walked off to praise Draco's simmering potion.  
  
  
  
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"Look, even if he DOES turn up late all wishy washy to breakfast, he certainly recovers quick enough, being his usual shitty self at everyone," Ron claimed in the Common Room later that night.  
  
The conversation really appealed to them for some reason.  
  
"Come off it Ron. We know Malfoy's good at hiding his emotions. He's covering up something," Harry replied, twirling his wand in his fingers. He sighed and pulled off his robe and then his trousers, revealing his bare chest and boxers.  
  
"Went for the trousers-only look today, did we?" Hermione said with a smile.  
  
"Come on, you know it's been a boiling day today. Soon as I woke up I decided the robe was all I was gonna wear, 'part from the boxers, pants and shoes. Waaay to hot for anything else," Harry replied.  
  
"Wished you'd have left out the pants and boxers," Hermione said with a grin.  
  
Harry's eyebrows arched upwards, and Ron stared at Hermione with an open mouth.  
  
"You didn't think I could go out with a guy like Robert and NOT have an interest in a man's body, did you?" Hermione said indignantly.  
  
"So - so have you two - have you ever - " Ron spluttered, his face bright red, and Hermione's smile changed into a frown. "No, Ron! No. No.I - I'd wait for the right person first."  
  
She fell quiet and there was an uncomfortable silence in the room. Harry slowly picked up his clothes and reported he was going to bed.  
  
  
  
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Harry's eyes widened as he looked around himself. It was dark. Very dark. Everything was an inky blue, an extremely deep, inky, velvety blue. He was.floating. Under water. And he could breathe.  
  
"Where am I?" Harry said, barely comprehending the fact he could speak normally.  
  
What he did notice, was the he felt dry. Totally dry.  
  
"Weird."  
  
((Follow me.))  
  
"Ey?! What the hell.who's there?!" Harry called, and made to scratch the back of his neck, a habit he had picked up when in a confusing time. He raised his hand towards his neck, then stopped, staring at his hand. It was waxy white; pale cream, and the long, slim fingers were shapely, so beautiful; the fingernails were so precise and rounded, not protruding a millimetre away from his fingertip: just short enough to recognise this hand as a male's.  
  
"What the - ?" Harry gasped. But he realised then: his vision was clear. There were no glasses. And his voice was different. He knew this voice, but he couldn't comprehend whom it belonged to. Indeed, he couldn't think of anyone he knew: couldn't picture their faces, remember their names, recall their backgrounds. All he knew was that he had known people.once. In a far away place.  
  
((Follow me.))  
  
The command grew deeper in sound: it was a man's voice, calling.calling.  
  
((This way.))  
  
A shaft of light broke through the heavenly water, piercing the strange stillness - though Harry's thin arms had been waving about, keeping him afloat, the water had not rippled at all.  
  
There was no question what he should do. He swam towards this beam, and looked at it. Sunlight. A shaft about two metres wide, consisting of pure, bright sunlight, had managed to reach down to Harry, even though he could not even see the surface, proving he was deep in a lake, or very large body of water: very deep indeed. Ridiculously deep.  
  
The beam of sunlight was.unreal. It was so out of place, yet not unwelcome in this land of everlasting, dark water. ((FOLLOW ME.))  
  
Harry shrugged, and moved upwards, through this shaft of light, upwards, and upwards. And suddenly his lungs kicked in and started begging for mercy: he needed to breathe. Panicking, he kicked at the water savagely, propelling himself swiftly through the water, and now the feeling hit him: the water was freezing. Chilling his blood and engulfing him in wave upon wave of shocking iciness, the water pulled at him, needing him, dragging him downwards, almost lustfully wanting to claim him. But his lungs would not allow it, and he tried to scream in terror, causing his mouth to fill, and then he seemed to consist of nothing but knife-like, freezing water and it was all he felt: in his mouth, his lungs, his mind; and yet he swam on.  
  
The surface was near, he could see it, almost feel the wind above as he could now see swaying trees out there, in the wonderful world of oxygen.  
  
But he stretched his arms, not being able to get any closer to air. His frantic actions started slowing down. The surface was too far away: he'd never make it. He kept kicking, bitterly refusing to give in.  
  
And a picture formed in his mind.  
  
A blurry vision: the first person he had been able to picture in his mind since this whole thing started.: someone with dark hair. That was all he could make out. Silly vision. Such a silly thing to see, while you're drowning.  
  
And suddenly the vision was real: it was above the surface, and it reached down to Harry, stretching its arms through the water, ripples brushing against Harry's skin: he feebly grasped the arms, and the person pulled him out.  
  
Harry's head hit fresh air and he gasped, the air blasting into his lungs and he choked on water. He coughed it out, and looked around weakly for his rescuer. Or he was about to, until a searing, terrible pain exploded just above his left elbow. He cried out, not quite knowing what to do, but suddenly, his mouth opened and he started shrieking in agony, despite the fact he didn't want to. This new voice of his screamed and pleaded with the pain, yelling between sobs "No, no!! PLEASE NO!"  
  
He was on his hands and knees beside a massive lake, and his arms were shaky, barely supporting him, as the pain worked itself deeper into his flesh just above his left elbow. And then it stopped, so abruptly, that Harry was left panting.  
  
No longer in control of this strange body, Harry found himself pulling up his sleeve, and inspected the now painfully sore area. Where there was once tanned skin, there was now a thin pale white arm, the same colour as the hand. But there was another change. There was a small tattoo, just above his left elbow: a livid red tattoo, of a skull, with a snake protruding from its mouth. It was smoking softly.  
  
"The Dark Mark," Harry wanted to say, but instead, the only words his mouth formed were, "I never wanted this. DAMN YOU FATHER!"  
  
And as he was staring through another's eyes at a Death Eater's mark, a lock of saturated silver-white hair fell across his face.  
  
  
  
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"Look at his scar, man! It's gone bright red!"  
  
"That was too freaky. Way too freaky."  
  
"I was afraid to even touch him, he was trembling and sweating that bad!"  
  
No mistaking that voice.  
  
"Ron?" Harry asked groggily, and opened his eyes. Blurry. But he could still make out his surroundings. No water. No Dark Mark. He was on the floor beside his bed, his blankets tangled around his legs. He was sweating.  
  
"Man, you're awake! God that was freaky Harry, you were having some sort of dream, and then you had a fit, trembling and everything and fell outta your bed!" Ron said worriedly, and helped to untangle Harry from the blankets. Harry put on his glasses.  
  
"Yeah, you were groaning and sorta saying "please, no!" or something, and we woke up and pulled back your curtains and then you just." Seamus trailed off.  
  
"You started twitching crazy-like, and just.fell. By that time we were terrified but didn't know what to do." Dean finished. "Yeah, so then we sent off Neville to get Madam Pomfrey."  
  
But their words didn't register. Harry's mind was clouded, everything was fogging up and just as he heard Neville breathing hard, pounding up the staircase with someone behind him, his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed, his head colliding with his bedside cabinet.  
  
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	3. He Admits

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Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: Will be H/D slash eventually, but not QUITE yet - almost! ^- ^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
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CHAPTER 3  
  
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"Yeah Madam Pomfrey, he was yelling in his sleep, like," Crabbe said, in the middle of a muffin he had grabbed on his way to the Hospital Wing.  
  
"So we tried to wake him up, but he just started shakin' like mad!" Goyle said, waving his arms about.  
  
"And he fell out of his bed, broke his skull and we all thought he was dead."  
  
"Well plainly Mr Malfoy isn't dead, Crabbe! Now stop littering my quarters and get back to breakfast - I'll deal with the boy for now," Madam Pomfrey replied, and shooed the two muffin munchers out into the hall.  
  
"You five! Out! The boy needs rest!!" Madam Pomfrey scolded. Dean, Seamus, Neville, Ron and Hermione were crowded around Harry's bed, all worried.  
  
"What happened to Malfoy, Pomfrey?" Seamus dared to ask.  
  
"MADAM Pomfrey, Finnigan! And it's none of your business, although I must admit your story about Potter's injuries and the story about Malfoy.rather peculiar."  
  
And with that she ordered them to breakfast and slammed the door behind them.  
  
  
  
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Harry opened his eyes.  
  
Blurry. White sheets. Very blurry. Glasses?  
  
He blinked, looked to his left, and realized he wasn't in his dorm. He was in the Hospital Wing. He put a hand to his head, and felt the numbness there, and also the bandages.  
  
"You split your head, just like I did. Couple of damn fools we must look."  
  
Harry jumped, hurriedly picked his glasses from the bedside cabinet and shoved them on.  
  
"Relax Scarhead. It's me, your ultimate nemesis Malfoy."  
  
"What - what are we doing here?" Harry asked, suddenly uncomfortably aware that his hair was messy and his eyes ringed in red behind his glasses. It surprised him he felt this way around Malfoy, enough to distract him from the fact that Draco Malfoy was talking (almost) normally towards the Boy Who Lived.  
  
"I just told ya that, didn't I? We smashed our heads. Pomfrey gave us both this thing to numb the pain, but it'll take a few days before we can go back to our classes."  
  
"You.smashed your head as well?" Harry asked, suddenly baffled.  
  
"Yeah. Seems we both had a nightmare, a fit and then fell and decided we wanted to nearly kill ourselves. Must say I blame you, though. Had a dream I was you, floating in some river."  
  
Malfoy started laughing then. "I dreamt I was you: how pathetic! My whole house would laugh at me for weeks if I told them."  
  
"Y-you had a dream.about me?" Harry asked. He didn't feel comfortable about this at all. Both of them having dreams about one another, and nearly being killed straight after.  
  
Draco stopped chuckling, and looked at Harry.  
  
Harry had to say, that even though he hated Malfoy with a passion, the Slytherin boy looked kinda.handsome.with that smile on his face. And Harry's face exploded with colour.  
  
"What's up with you?" Malfoy asked, frowning.  
  
"Surprised."  
  
"About me dreaming of you? Well I assure you it was nothing erotic - " Draco began.  
  
"It's not THAT I'm surprised about," Harry lied, "It's just you."  
  
Malfoy stopped frowning. Instead his eyebrows shot up, a light tinge dusted onto his cheekbones.  
  
"W-what about me?"  
  
Harry noted the quaver in his voice.  
  
"We're actually talking as though we accept one another as humans, instead of scum," Harry said hotly.  
  
Draco's small flush disappeared instantly, and Harry had to wonder about that.  
  
"Look, Draco -" Harry began, but Malfoy gave a sort of dignified snort of annoyance.  
  
"Don't call me that. Don't act like you really feel like talking to me civilly. Just don't pretend that, you got it pretty boy?" Draco said in a voice between fury and sadness.  
  
"I - I'm sorry. But.I have to ask you something," Harry replied, stunned.  
  
And Draco turned to Harry with eyes so heart wrenching, that the Gryffindor's heart sped up. Those gloomy, stormy-day eyes focused on Harry; so much like pale storm clouds...he could almost see the rain falling down Malfoy's cheeks.  
  
But there WAS rain trickling down his face!  
  
Malfoy was crying. Silently, softly, the tears so translucent and clear Harry could barely see them. But they were there, and they swam quickly down the pale cream cheeks, edging around the pale peach lips to fall off that beard-less chin.  
  
"M-Malfoy?" Harry asked, and, not knowing what he was doing, got out of his bed and walked to the one across the hall, where Draco lay.  
  
"Stay away. Stay away from me! I know what you dreamt. I know you saw me. I know you saw the Mark!" Draco cried. Lucky there was no one around at the time to hear him, because what he said next would have caused the whole school to erupt into a gossip-war.  
  
"I never wanted to be a Death Eater, Potter. You understand me?! I never wanted to be like this, on the Dark Side. I only hated you because I despised how you could make your own choices, how you would have everyone behind you either way!"  
  
Draco jumped out of his bed, on the opposite side of Harry.  
  
"You don't know how damned lucky you are, Harry. I want this to end. NOW."  
  
"Y-You want what..to end?" Harry asked, staring and desperately wishing the boy would stop crying.  
  
"This whole charade about us being enemies! I know I've acted like I hate you, but when you turned me down that first day on the Hogwarts Express. Look, that day, I already knew I was bound to be a Death Eater, already knew my father had practically hung the Death Eater's robe in my wardrobe. You - you were my only ticket to freedom, Harry. If I could just befriend you, I'd never have to be a Death Eater! I'd had never had to lie to myself like this! But you turned me down, Harry! Damn you! DAMN YOU!!" Draco yelled. He launched himself at Harry, and they both tumbled to the floor, bandages flying loose.  
  
As Draco landed on Harry's body, Harry whipped out his wand from his pocket and pointed it at Draco.  
  
The stared at one another and Harry, though being underneath Draco, knew he would win the battle, if it had to come down to it. But he couldn't bring himself to curse the boy with eyes so grey.  
  
Draco reached down and, unchallenged, traced a finger along the scar, and one last tear escaped his right eye, and dropped onto Harry's lip. Draco moved his hand and, amazingly, wiped the tear off Harry's lip with his thumb, his grey eyes suddenly clear and almost afraid.  
  
His heart beating, his cheeks bright red and the warm feeling of Draco's legs parted against his own crotch, Harry knew something had changed. He knew, as soon as Draco started crying, that nothing would ever be the same.  
  
Draco bit his lip, still sitting on Harry. And the Slytherin's skull fired up with pain, and he toppled over backwards in a dead faint, blood oozing onto the floor.  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
"MADAM POMFREY!!! DRACO'S HEAD - IT'S BLEEDING AGAIN!" Harry almost screamed, skidding into the staffroom in his pyjamas and bandages.  
  
Professor Snape looked up, surprised, and Madam Pomfrey, sitting next to him, bolted up out of her chair.  
  
"'Draco', Potter? What happened to 'Malfoy'?" Snape sneered.  
  
Harry ignored him.  
  
"What? Potter, what is this?" Pomfrey asked, baffled.  
  
"Draco, he.he had another fit," Harry started, his face flushing furiously, not wanting to admit what had happened. "Then his head just.just started bleeding and he fainted!"  
  
"What have you done to him this time, Potter?" Snape whispered evilly.  
  
"Nothing, I swear! I was watching him resting, and then - " and Harry stopped. Even though it had been a lie, he knew how.fey.that would have sounded the teachers.  
  
Snape smiled cruelly.  
  
"Were you now? Admiring his face as he slept away, were you, Mr Gryffindor?"  
  
Harry scowled.  
  
And a few minutes later, he burst through the Hospital Wing doors with Madam Pomfrey on his heels.  
  
She unwrapped the bandage and saw to Draco, claiming that Harry's head seemed to have healed quite well, seeing how he could yell so loudly.  
  
"So, Potter.why did you come to us that quickly? I thought you two would have.jumped.at the chance to see the other's head split and bleeding," Pomfrey joked, wiping her hands.  
  
Harry stayed silent, but Pomfrey unwrapped his head, passed him a pot of healing ointment, and claimed that Draco must have hit his head harder, and needed to stay in the Hospital Wing for awhile more.  
  
And she shooed him out the door.  
  
It was now almost dinner, so Harry made his way down to the Great Hall, pondering all that had happened.  
  
Draco was.sorry, for being the son of a Death Eater? He used Harry's first name as though it had been natural, and what was worse, Harry had felt quite content to have Draco's body against his own. No: more than content - eager, almost.  
  
"HARRY!" Hermione threw herself onto the boy, hugging him. "You're alright!"  
  
"Course I am, I'm the holy Harry Potter, aren't I?" Harry snapped sourly. Ron, standing behind Hermione frowned.  
  
"What's up?" he asked suspiciously. Harry beckoned them out into the grounds and they walked around the lake while he told them what had happened.  
  
Except he left out the part where Draco had jumped onto him, pressing their bodies together. In fact, the memory brought a soft shade of pink to his cheeks. He kept his head down to hide the colour in his face.  
  
"Wow. So Malfoy's.not really evil?! Well.THAT'LL take some getting used to, eh?" Ron said, chewing a chocolate frog, watching the giant squid propelling itself around in circles.  
  
"Oh honestly Ron. You accept it that quickly? What's happened to you? Malfoy's obviously planning something. I'd.be careful, if I were you, Harry." Hermione said, sitting down at the edge of the water.  
  
Harry didn't answer. Somehow, he didn't think Draco was really planning anything. He just had to trust the fact that Draco had finally come clean. And there was less than a month to go of school.  
  
Harry sighed, and looked at his chocolate frog. He handed it to Ron, his appetite fading, and walked back to the castle without looking back.  
  
Ron and Hermione watched him go, then Ron turned to Hermione.  
  
"So, how's Robert the Ravenclaw?" Ron asked.  
  
"Oh Ron, you can be so insensitive, sometimes!" Hermione cried, and rushed after Harry.  
  
"Surprised she even remembered my name after all the babbling she usually does about that boyfriend of hers," Ron said to the giant squid, who chose that point in time to hurriedly swim a few metres beneath the surface.  
  
"Oh great. Anybody else tired of me?!" Ron yelled.  
  
A couple of birds scattered, and a group of first years ran away with terrified expressions.  
  
Ron shook his head and opened his best friend's chocolate frog.  
  
-------  
  
A/N: Please R/R!! 


	4. The Heart Wants What it Wants

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: Will be H/D slash eventually, but not QUITE yet - almost! ^- ^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
-------  
  
CHAPTER 4  
  
-------  
  
  
  
For the next few days, classes were bleak, Quidditch practice boring (even though he was the captain) and eating even worse. Harry just couldn't feel...happy. Nobody except him, Ron and Hermione knew Draco had changed for good, but Harry didn't even want to consider what would happen when Draco's head healed. Harry knew he and Draco would never hold an argument quite like their old ones ever again.  
  
Changes... Changes. So many changes, so fast.  
  
And so, one night, not even knowing why, Harry grabbed his Invisibility Cloak and made his way to the Hospital Wing, opening the portrait hole quietly.  
  
He closed it, The Fat Lady snorting in her sleep and he treaded softly down the hall, taking care not to make too much noise. He was in his pyjama pants, his hair messed up after a few hours of uneasy sleep. But he didn't care. He just had to see for himself whether or not Draco was still human or had turned into a toadstool, which, because of all the oddities that were occurring recently, wouldn't surprise him.  
  
He reached the double doors of the infirmary and eased them open silently, slipped through and let them bang close, the sound echoing softly through the walls of the castle. Harry didn't really care if anyone woke up or not, now that he had reached his destination.  
  
Harry looked around the Hospital Wing, and the sight that met his eyes caused his heart to skip a beat.  
  
There, lying on the bed, his arms to the side with his hair spread around him like a thick halo of platinum, was Draco Malfoy, no longer looking like an evil Slytherin, but a thing of beauty. The window above him was open, the white curtains blowing softly in the breeze, wafting a few locks of Draco's silver hair to and fro. Moonlight was streaming in and it bathed Draco in a pool of beautiful, pale-but-gleaming light.  
  
Harry caught his breath and moved forwards slowly, hardly daring to believe his eyes, looking upon his old enemy with something close to astonishment. He looked so innocent.  
  
((And he deserves innocence! He told me he doesn't want to be a Death Eater. He shouldn't have to be forced to do something like that. I wish I could help him.))  
  
Those last thoughts shocked him terribly; why should he help someone who had made his last seven years miserable? Or attempted to, at least.  
  
((But he's come clean. I know it. He...deserves my help, I guess.))  
  
Harry pulled a chair up beside Draco's bed, and, gulping, grabbed the boy's hand, and started stroking it.  
  
"It's so unfair," he murmured. "Why'd you have to be born into that family? Hell, why'd you have to listen and take the bullshit your father did to you? You stupid asshole." Harry sighed.  
  
And suddenly, he heard voices, and footsteps, approaching.  
  
Knowing he couldn't be seen, he laid down Draco's hand, but kept his hand resting on the Slytherin's arm, and kept quite still on the chair, biting his lip and making sure one of his feet weren't showing from beneath the Cloak. He then bowed his head and got ready to eavesdrop in comfort.  
  
Madam Pomfrey entered the room, followed by - surprisingly - Dumbledore. Harry stared but kept his trap shut.  
  
As Dumbledore passed, his eyes flickered over to Draco's bed and his step faltered - whether it was because he could see through Harry's Invisibility Cloak, or whether it was the sight of Draco, Harry couldn't tell.  
  
Madam Pomfrey gave a sigh and poured Dumbledore a cup of tea after he had entered her office at the back. They didn't close the door.  
  
"So what more news of his health?" Dumbledore asked heavily, sitting in a chair. Harry listened in.  
  
"Well.he seems to be on the mend alright, but...the mark isn't fading, Dumbledore. It's quite worrying. I've tried everything - "  
  
"Aah, no, you needn't have tried. That's the Dark Mark, Pomfrey. Yes, a Death Eater's mark."  
  
Harry heard Pomfrey give a sigh and sit down heavily next to Dumbledore.  
  
"You need to understand me, Pomfrey. I don't have much time to explain this, so you must listen. Lucius Malfoy, I believe, forced this upon his son, refusing to take 'no' for an answer... Yes, Pomfrey, Draco hates who he is; the way he's been put into Slytherin and been forced to act like it. His classmates call him the new Salazar, I have heard. Madam Pomfrey, that was exactly the reaction Tom Riddle had received when he was in school. But this situation is not one I am willing to let slip between my fingers. Draco, in his heart, does not wish to be a servant of the Dark Lord; he wants nothing to do with the Dark Arts at all. The boy's been landed with a very hard decision: he must either take my hand and my protection, or simply let himself be taken under the wing of Voldemort."  
  
Silence. Shocked silence. Harry pulled off his Cloak, not knowing what he would do when the teachers came back, but he had to talk to Draco. Harry suddenly realized the arm beneath his hand had shifted slightly and saw that Draco was awake. One, single tear had tracked down his cheek, and as he looked Harry in the eye, unsurprised of Harry's being there, Draco put a finger to his mouth, requesting that Dumbledore's conversation should continue.  
  
"My dear Madam, you need to tell this to the other Professors, because I am hiring fifteen ministry wizards to guard the school."  
  
"B-But is that really...necessary, Dumbledore?" Pomfrey asked, her voice quavering.  
  
"Yes. Voldemort, I have heard, is pulling all the strings possible to persuade the young Malfoy that the way of Dark Arts is his true fate. This...could be another plot for Harry Potter's death. I do believe Voldemort wants an inside helper. Draco is his key. The boy needs to realize he is not alone."  
  
Harry tuned out the rest of the conversation, and turned to Malfoy.  
  
"What are you doing here, Potter?" Malfoy whispered.  
  
"Trying to save your life, is all," Harry whispered. "Draco, is it true? Is all this true?"  
  
After a pause, "...Yes. Why do you call me that?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"You called me Draco. Why? Why not Malfoy?"  
  
"Because I'm sick of being your enemy, I'm sick of calling you Malfoy. You were named Draco, so that's what I'll call you."  
  
"Okay...why are you sick of being my enemy?"  
  
He sounded like a child, questioning a mathematics equation. Harry winced slightly at his calm acceptance. This certainly wasn't the old Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Because, after what I just heard...I think you need a friend, more than an enemy."  
  
"Quite right, Harry," a soft voice said from behind. Harry didn't need to turn to know he was there.  
  
"Why is it so unfair, sir?" Harry asked, still watching Draco's eyes.  
  
Draco gave an uncharacteristic whimper, and suddenly grabbed Harry's arm, looking the Gryffindor in the eyes.  
  
"I've told you before, Harry. You're the only person that can...give me freedom. I don't want to be a Death Eater, and befriending you would give me...a sense of protection."  
  
Harry leaned in and looked Draco squarely in the eyes.  
  
"I would never be your friend for a cause like that," Harry said softly, "but I WOULD be your friend, if my friendship was what you wanted, not protection."  
  
"So let it be so. We have a.lot.to catch up on," Draco said softly and suddenly cried out in agony as a scarlet light burst from his sleeve. He started sobbing, clutching his arm just above his elbow. It was the Mark. Draco threw his arms around Harry's neck, begging, "let it stop, let it stop!!" Blood had starting oozing from the Mark, staining the sheets.  
  
And Harry, with a confused glance at Dumbledore, knew that a very strong bond was slowly forming between the opposing house leaders. He calmly put his arms around Draco's waist and held the boy near, trying not to feel too weird about it. After a few minutes, when the teachers had left, seeming to not care about Harry's wandering around the castle, Harry laughed and said to Draco:  
  
"Well, you silly bastard, now what're the gossips gonna say when they see us talking to one another like humans?"  
  
The tears dissolved into laughs and Draco pulled away. The mirth lit up those grey eyes, and the grin of his peachy lips made Harry's heart flutter. He clasped wrists with Draco and said that if he didn't get better soon, he'd belt him one.  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
The next day, Harry didn't know what to do. He walked around nervously, wondering if last night had been some big joke played on him. He couldn't quite believe Draco had just asked to be Harry's friend: a few days ago, less than a week, he and Malfoy had nearly gotten into a punch-up at the ball. And now they were on a first name basis, had already hugged one another and...  
  
Harry stopped walking toward the Great Hall for lunch. His mind had shut down as he remembered the hug. He could almost still feel the slender arms around his neck, the soft, creamy face pressed against his chest, the feeling of the waist in his arms. The warmth they shared. Hotness flared up through Harry's face and he slid down the wall to sit on the floor in a now- deserted Transfiguration corridor.  
  
What the hell was going on? A few days ago, he would have leapt at the chance to kill the damn Slytherin, and now he was acting like some gay guy? Sure, the friendliness could be accepted, if he gave a wide berth around the fact it happened so suddenly, but that hug made him feel like...he almost wanted a relationship with the guy.  
  
Harry put his head in his hands. ((STOP RIGHT THERE, POTTER. There is no way in frickin' hell you're falling in love with that white-faced freak. Friend or not, he's a GUY. A GUY. Guys like girls. Guys don't like guys. You can't do this, you stupid bastard!))  
  
He rubbed his eyes, not wanting to believe what his heart was requesting. And against everything he wanted, an image formed in his mind. He could feel his lips against Draco's, feel his tongue against the other's: the bodies pressed together and the feeling of Draco underneath him... as their bodies became one... Harry's body got tighter as electric shot through his veins, swimming through every limb, until he stood up shakily and stalked off to lunch, fighting back the lust with an anger that overpowered any wanting of a relationship with Draco.  
  
((But you DID promise to be his friend.)) ((Yeah, I will be. Just not romantically.))  
  
But a last voice, almost inaudible to Harry's mind, whispered: ((The heart wants what it wants.))  
  
------- Please review! 


	5. Hunger

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
-------  
  
CHAPTER 5  
  
-------  
  
  
  
Draco was released from the hospital a couple of days after. And so, after a quick conversation at the gargoyle-sink in the Potions dungeon, Harry and Draco decided to make their friendship official to the 'public'. And so, with many whispered questions following them wherever they went, Harry and Draco were rarely seen without the other, walking the corridors and chatting like nothing had ever happened.  
  
Of course, Ron was jealous. Hermione thought it hysterical to see them friends at last and burst out laughing every time Draco came into view, walking alongside Harry.  
  
But old habits die hard, and the Slytherin couldn't bring himself to enjoy the company of Harry's other friends. In fact, he found it rather annoying whenever they were around.  
  
"But Harry, you gotta understand me, I despise them both whether you like it or not. Ron's still a broke Weasley and that Granger still a Mudbl - "  
  
"Don't you even finish that sentence," Harry grumbled, tossing a golfball form hand to hand as they sat on their brooms in midair, practicing their Seeker skills together. They had decided to have a break when Harry brought up the problem of Draco's absence whenever Ron or Hermione appeared.  
  
"Ahh, sorry mate but I just can't do it. Just the way you can't like Crabbe or Goyle," Draco sighed.  
  
"Yeah, but you don't like 'em either." Harry glared.  
  
"Yeah, true," Draco admitted, and laughed. He brought his broom around and flew off beside Harry, clapping the boy on the shoulder as he passed.  
  
Harry sighed and turned his broom around as well, and watched the Slytherin fly off around the pitch, practising his diving. The silvery-blonde hair flew behind Draco as he soared towards the grass, and Harry knew the experience of a super-fast dive. He could see the thrill in Draco's face; almost feel the adrenaline himself as he saw Draco flattened out on the oak handle, his legs wrapped around his broom and his hand outstretched, pretending he could see the snitch. With a blur, Draco swerved up quickly, a jerk of his hips and wrists, and brought the broom level, an inch off the floor.  
  
Breathlessly, Harry nodded as Draco asked if it had been a satisfactory dive, trying to hide the excitement in his eyes. For the past few days, his heart wouldn't let him ignore his feelings, and now accepted the blind rushing of blood to his cheeks, or the thrill and electricity that surged through him whenever they touched, whether it was a bump of the elbows or a mock fight, which usually ended with Harry sitting on top of Draco, panting with the effort but managing to keep the boy held down.  
  
Any contact was enough to send Harry spiralling through an emotional tornado. It was really quite new to him, to say he never had a girlfriend (or boyfriend) in his life. No first kiss, no...midnight fun. He was a newbie to the love scene, but he knew that these feelings for Draco were...special...somehow. And what excited him even more was how he could see the tsunami of energy and feelings reflected in Draco's eyes. Something told Harry that he wasn't alone in this: he knew Draco felt the same way.  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
Harry sat down at the table, next to Ron, who then childishly scowled. Harry thumped him on the shoulder, made amends with a blink of an eye and seconds later, both were roaring with laughter at a stupid joke made by Seamus.  
  
It was then that Hermione entered the Hall, red eyes and dry tears streaked down her face. Harry stood up quickly, and, right there in the double doors, the Head Girl burst into tears, sobbing loudly. Harry ran up to her, Ron on his tail, and took her into his arms as the school watched in shocked silence.  
  
"Hermione!! What's wrong?!" he cried, as the girl's hold on him became amazingly tight.  
  
"I - I - I...Robert - he just - dumped me - in the library - when I said..." she hiccupped, but she couldn't complete her sentence, instead finishing it with a soft wail, fresh tears spilling onto Harry's robes. He pushed her away very gently to look at her; she let go and just stood there, Harry's hands on her shoulders while she sobbed, her hands clutched together in front of her chest. Harry turned to Ron but stared in amazement as Ron's face went from astonishment to a sort of dreamy expression as he watched Hermione weeping.  
  
And then the thought blasted into his mind, wrenching the cogs into motion as he understood just how Ron had felt when Robert had asked Hermione out. Ron was in love with her!  
  
"Oh god, Ron," was all Harry could say amidst his laughter, and grabbed hold of Hermione and shoved her into Ron's arms. Ron stumbled, stunned and awkwardly hugged her as the girl buried her face into Ron's chest. He relaxed a few seconds after and started stroking her hair, until Hermione threw her arms around his neck, sobbing into his shoulder. Ron took her out of the Hall to stop the whistling and cheering that was flying at them.  
  
Grinning at his matchmaking talent, Harry sat down next to Seamus.  
  
"We wondered when those two would get together," Dean said simply, grabbing another sandwich.  
  
"Mm. No doubt who Ron's gonna sit next to at dinner," Seamus joined in.  
  
"'Bout time something happened," Neville joined in.  
  
Harry laughed. He finished off his lunch but was in no mood to go to the common room, knowing Ron would need some time alone with Hermione to sort out his feelings, so he put his hands to the back of his head, put his feet on the bench beside him and leaned against a still-eating Neville. He watched the ceiling, the cerulean sky winking down at him, the sun a bright globe of gold; the clean, woolly clouds floated along gently as he remembered the results of his final N.E.W.T.s were coming out. His stomach clenched queasily, but he knew he'd be all right, as long as Snape didn't take it out on him and decide to be rather evil by failing him. He relaxed and continued watching the sky above him, a cloud coming along that looked remarkably like a massive dog...  
  
"Sirius," Harry mumbled, and decided he'd write him a letter.  
  
"Whatcha say, 'Arry?" Neville said through his food.  
  
"Say it, don't spray it," Lavender said haughtily.  
  
"Nothing, Neville. Lavender, leave the guy alone," Harry said, suddenly watching Draco making his way delicately through a piece of cake, brushing away crumbs off his chin every second, and had to laugh at how feminine he looked. He then stood up, brushed the mud off the bench (that had come from the Quidditch boots he preferred to wear instead of trainers), and made his way up to the Owlery. He wrote a quick note, telling Sirius of how his test results were about to come in and how Hogwarts was relatively normal. And of his friendship with Draco. He left out the romantic thoughts that constantly invaded his head, instead saying how the boy had definitely changed.  
  
It only took a few minutes to write the letter and he sent Hedwig on her way. Looking out at the afternoon sun, deciding to watch the sunset, Harry jogged through the castle, pushed open the double doors and walked down to the lake. He sat on the grass, drew his knees to underneath his chin and was glad that there were no classes for the seventh years that day. Teachers were busy finalizing the students' results.  
  
The sun glinted at him, still just above the Forbidden Forest, the sky now bordering a colour between blue and peach-pink. The clouds were thinning out, the breeze soft and Harry closed his eyes, resting his forehead on his knees.  
  
"Hey Harry," a soft voice said from behind him. Harry didn't startle. He had almost sensed Draco coming up from behind.  
  
"Hey. Wassup?"  
  
"Saw you out here, thought I'd join you. Everyone else is either in class or is in the hall with that new Duelling Club."  
  
"Thought I was the only person in the school to turn it down," Harry said, confused.  
  
"Yeah. But I just don't feel like going after...the Mark, and all."  
  
"Aah." Harry grinned, trying to forget the Mark.  
  
"And anyway - it's not like you need the practice, eh, Holy Boy?" Draco joked.  
  
Harry snarled and leapt onto the Slytherin, causing yet another mock wrestle between them. Within two minutes, Harry had Draco pinned to the ground, panting but victorious.  
  
"Wahey, lookie here, a Slytherin on the floor," Harry smiled.  
  
"Underneath a Gryffindor," Draco said softly, and Harry heard the meaning behind Draco's words. Draco's eyes betrayed this as well, the grey orbs flickering from Harry's eyes and then down towards Harry's lips. Knowing everyone was inside and couldn't see them for the greenhouses, and still not caring if they were seen, Harry stroked his fingers through Draco's platinum hair, looking into his eyes. He shifted his weight so their crotches were against one another. Both boys felt the warmth, felt the rushing adrenaline pouring through their bodies. His heart thumping fast, Harry leant down slowly, his emerald eyes glittering behind his slender frames. Draco put an arm around Harry's neck, and leant upwards. Their lips brushed -  
  
Angry voices boomed across the grounds, and the two broke apart immediately, the connection of hearts breaking. Harry leapt off Draco, who sat up and the two guiltily sat next to one another, praying they didn't look too close, sitting at the edge of the lake. Trembling, Harry looked out across the grounds, silently cursing whoever had interrupted their fragile moment. But as they listened, it was obviously Snape and Dumbledore in a heated argument.  
  
"15 ministry wizards, Dumbledore? What madness is this? A student needs not these precautions!" Snape hissed angrily, striding alongside Dumbledore as they came into view. His robes were flowing behind him in the soft wind, his greasy hair coming away from his pale face.  
  
"Two students, Severus. And need I remind you that outside these walls rages a war darker than these students can imagine?! Voldemort will make his move, you have predicted so yourself. He needs young Malfoy. What his plans are exactly, I cannot say, but I do know that - "  
  
Dumbledore stopped speaking as the two students they had been discussing came to his eyes, sitting together at the lake. ((They truly have established a bond...)) he thought to himself.  
  
Obviously the both of them were in a hurry, so Dumbledore nodded and smiled quickly to Harry and Draco, but Snape gave a double take. He had noticed the occasional conversations between the Slytherin and Gryffindor, and had accepted it as a truce, but...the both of them being all...chummy... The thought made him nauseous. Draco was the finest Slytherin and he had great pride in the boy, whether his family were part of the Dark Arts or not. But befriending a Gryffindor so profusely might as well be a crime of highest treason. It was disgusting. Glaring at the two, he was about to step towards them.  
  
"Severus! Come! We must head for Hogsmeade!" Dumbledore called impatiently, and the two members of staff were soon gone, disappearing behind the side of the forbidden forest, heading for the main gates where a carriage was probably waiting for them to take them into the wizarding village.  
  
"W-What was that all about?" Draco asked, his voice quavering.  
  
"Dunno," Harry said, but read between the lines. He knew what was really bothering his...'friend'. "Look, don't let Snape get to you. He'll just have to accept our friendship," Harry said, his eyebrows furrowed, and desperately wished they could continue what had been interrupted.  
  
"Yeah," Draco replied, but Harry knew he wasn't convinced. Draco stood up.  
  
"Draco...what was that?" Harry asked, not being able to contain himself.  
  
"That conversation? Same thing they were talking about when you came to me in the Hospital Wing," Malfoy said, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"No, before that happened," Harry replied, his face bursting with colour.  
  
"Y'know Harry, I really don't know. But...can't say I hated it. Rather looking forward to the next time, actually." Draco grinned cheekily.  
  
Harry's head swayed with the realization he had just been the exact opposite of rejected - he had been accepted. But accepted for what?  
  
"What are you -" Harry began.  
  
"No Harry, don't think about it yet. It's too early to...jump in, agreed?" Draco replied, stepped up to Harry and embraced him, his lips brushing against Harry's tanned neck.  
  
"I'm going for dinner," the Slytherin smiled, and jogged off. Harry swayed on his feet, overcome by desire and fell back onto the grass, watching the now-pink sky fade into an inky blue, feeling the pangs of hunger that had nothing to do with dinner.  
  
  
  
------- Please review!! ^-^;; 


	6. Euphoria

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
******* EXTRA NOTE: I just want to thank my reviewers soooo much!!!! *HUGS ALL ROUND* You really made me proud. I'll get round to noting ya'll back soon, okies? *******  
  
-------  
  
CHAPTER 6  
  
-------  
  
  
  
The next day at breakfast, Dumbledore made an announcement.  
  
"As you all know, due to the conflict occurring in the wizarding world, Hogsmeade trips were cancelled at the start of the year, with the exception of Halloween, when teachers would supervise you all. I am afraid that, in the future for third years and upward, this exception will also be cancelled until Voldemort is defeated and peace is once again restored."  
  
Murmured conversations broke out, amongst angry cries and yells, and many promising future troublemakers stood up furiously, nobody really paying attention to Voldemort's name. Not one student really seemed too afraid about their safety in a place usually so pretty and peaceful, such as Hogsmeade.  
  
Dumbledore waved his hands, begging for attention.  
  
"Again, I have more news. Due to increasing danger, we have hired 15 ministry wizards to aid in the guarding of Hogwarts."  
  
Many conversations erupted here, mostly concerning fears that perhaps Dumbledore was losing confidence in his powers if he needed 15 ministry wizards to aid him. Or rather he WAS losing his powers, and needed the extra wizards.  
  
"However. I assure you I intend to keep this school strong and intact even if I have to do it with my bare hands. Hogwarts is a school, a place for my students, and you all belong here with your classes, learning and being educated in the ways of a witch or wizard. So classes will continue, no matter what the circumstances are outside our school grounds.  
  
"And so I have a proposal. The seventh years that will be graduating towards the end of the year are most welcome to stay within the Hogwarts grounds for however long they wish. The war is too risky to send my freshly graduated students into the world; they would attract the attention of Voldemort and his followers. Again, I ask of you if you would instead wish to live within Hogwarts for as long as your heart desires. Seventh years, please send up green sparks if you wish to endeavour such an offer."  
  
Harry's mind lurched at the possibility of staying at Hogwarts well after he had graduated.  
  
Ron poked his shoulder. "Well?!" the Gryffindor asked.  
  
Harry looked around. All the seventh years seemed to be considering the idea, talking amongst one another.  
  
"Yeah. I'll do it. But I wonder what we'd do in a school if we don't need to learn?" Harry retorted.  
  
"Worry about that later!" Hermione cried, and, surprising everyone in the Hall, stood up and sent a shower of green sparks into the air.  
  
"Well that was uncharacteristic, Hermione!" Harry grinned, and stood up next to her, and also sent up a shower of sparks that illuminated the lenses of his glasses.  
  
"Well then," Ron laughed, stood up, put an arm around Hermione's waist and accidentally sent up purple sparks, then quickly corrected himself.  
  
The hall stared at the three friends. Head Boy, Head Girl and the only male Weasley left in the school.  
  
Slowly, one after the other, Seventh years were standing up, sending emerald sparks glittering everywhere. Only one table had none standing. The Slytherin table. Not one student had stood.  
  
Silence. The sparks slowly faded out, leaving the Seventh years standing and staring at the Slytherin table. Harry's eyes clouded in dismay.  
  
And then a figure stood up from the bench. His black robes hung from his figure, seeming to flurry out around him from an airless wind; a mess of silvery hair fell in thick locks from the head that was bowed. He raised his face and Harry caught his breath. Draco's eyes looked dead: dead as stone, the grey orbs round circles of granite - nothing more. His mouth was dry and cracked, yet his appearance bowled Harry over in either intense passion or fear - he couldn't work out which. Draco looked pure evil - pure, solid, black evil. Clad in the robes of a Slytherin with a table full of sneering students supporting him, Draco walked from his seat and stood before the Head Table. Harry's heart thudded in apprehension, knowing that something was about to happen: Draco's steps were sure, careful and softly placed; his Quidditch boots seemed to be made of silk; Harry could almost see his toes working carefully, spreading out as they made to the ground. Draco didn't look like Draco. He looked like a blonde Tom Riddle.  
  
Draco reached the High Table, and stood there, silent. Then, suddenly, he gave a laugh; it burst from his mouth and echoed around the silent Hall, yet it was a laugh that was warm and full of mirth. The sneers flickered and died out. Slytherin held its breath. Draco's appearance dissolved from evil to a mystery. Harry's slowly-forming feeling of foreboding burst into wisps of wonder as he watched.  
  
Draco bowed before Dumbledore, straightened up, his wand arm pointing to the heavens. He smiled at the wand held in his slender, moon-faced fingers, and sent a massive array of emerald sparks into the air. The sparks took the shape of a lion with a snake around its neck.  
  
All Slytherins stood up, enraged, yelling and hissing in anger, but Dumbledore merely smiled, stood up and waited for silence. Many emotions were showing for Draco. Hate, surprise, acceptance, and even a wild sort of infatuation in one case.  
  
"Thank you, Draco, and all other students. You may sit."  
  
Draco returned to his chair at the Slytherin table. Anyone near him eyed him furiously, and edged away from him. He mumbled something to the table, and a fresh array of sneers and shallow grins once again were etched upon the face of the Slytherin. Harry wondered who he was leading on: the school, or Slytherin.  
  
"In offering your presence at this school for years to come, I must first forewarn you that you must work for what you eat, once you have graduated. Many will assist Hagrid in his work, and there shall be one student per teacher to aid with classes, should there be enough students staying. Some will replace Filch and help with the cleaning of the castle, as Filch and Mrs Norris will retire at the end of the year in a cottage in the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest."  
  
Cheers erased any mixed emotions currently held before. Everyone, it seemed, was glad to be rid of Filch and that confounded cat. Harry had the sneaking suspicion that Filch's cottage would become a frequent target for anyone with an extreme sense of humour. He grinned and pitied any who would suffer the future consequences, and his mind recollected the chains Filch had threatened him with in Harry's second year.  
  
"Some of you, however, will assist the ministry wizards and Aurors guarding our school. You will be the 'Hogwarts Aurors', the special force created to specially guard Hogwarts and no other school. Forms will be handed out in class, asking your final response for staying at Hogwarts, and the position you wish to enlist for. Now, to your classes! Chop chop!"  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
"What about you, Harry? I'm going for a Hogwarts Auror," Ron said, chewing the end of his sugar quill, squinting at the piece of paper listing the jobs they could do once they had graduated.  
  
"You bet. I've already filled it out," Harry grinned, and waved the neatly folded piece of paper. Ron laughed and haphazardly folded his crinkled piece of paper.  
  
"Well I'm trying out for the Transfiguration helper," Hermione retorted.  
  
"No worries, you'll get in. You're brainy, you're Head Girl and a teacher's pet," Ron replied and surprised everyone by slipping an arm around Hermione's waist.  
  
"Ron!" Hermione hissed, giggling madly. "Not in the corridors!"  
  
Harry didn't really pay attention, because, stalking up the corridor was Draco, his robes billowing out behind him.  
  
Harry felt time cut short as the Slytherin got closer, and when Draco finally caught his eye, Harry had stopped walking, his arms limp by his sides, a breeze caressing his face and blowing his bangs about. Draco's face didn't show any emotion, none at all. People in the corridor seemed to multiply within the blink of an eye and by the time Draco had almost reached the Gryffindor in front of him, people were bustling about, knocking into the Gryffindor and barely giving him room to breathe; everyone was almost running, and they were simply blurs to Harry as his senses shuddered to a halt. Draco had to shove at people to get past without tripping up; his gait slowed, and as he reached Harry, he stopped for a second, and then began walking again. The Slytherin pushed into Harry, their right shoulders locked, the side of Harry's chest shoved up against Draco's, but he didn't dare to look at the blonde. Instead, he focused his eyes forwards, staring at the heads milling around him, his lips parted and dry from an unfelt wind. Time stopped. Everyone stopped moving. A bird stayed in mid-flight as Harry looked out the window, the people around him almost dead, conversations halted as silence reigned. A warm, salty droplet of sweat jumped and slid down Harry's forehead. Draco's head was millimetres from Harry's own, but they would not hold eye contact. Harry could hear Draco's breathing; feel the warm skin cased in fabric rammed against him. They were so pushed up, Harry could feel Draco's nipple pressed against his and the feeling made Harry shiver: the tremble started somewhere in his crotch until it swelled to his stomach and exploded up his spine, making him shiver visibly. He heard Draco give a soft moan, and felt a hand brush his. Harry closed his eyes and slid into a stupor that consisted of Draco and nothing else: the wind, the storm, the tidal wave of energy flowing between them escalated, the euphoria of it all ruptured Harry's heart into shreds, sending it scattering into the wind as his throat seized up, heard a louder groan from Draco as their legs intermingled, thighs squashed; and, in a hoarse voice, he asked Draco, "do you feel it?"  
  
In a voice barely audible, Draco replied, "Yeah. Yeah I feel it. I meant for it to happen. I've never...touched anyone, like I've touched you: and I meant 'touch' as in more ways than one. Harry... I thought you deserve this for all you've done: your friendship means a lot."  
  
"We've only just got started," Harry replied, his mouth open as he breathed in and a blonde head slid closer to his -  
  
With a roar, yells and conversations slammed back into their world and Draco, his eyes wide, pulled off Harry and kept walking. Harry turned, sweat racing down his head, his heart hammering painfully against his ribs. His whole body trembled and he was full of this new emotion: it controlled him, ran his thoughts, until Ron's voice came screaming in over the crowd: "HARRY! YOU ALRIGHT?!"  
  
Harry pushed past people into the next corridor where Ron was waiting. He looked over his blushing, trembling, wide-eyed friend.  
  
"What the hell happened?" Ron asked, his voice half awe, half surprise.  
  
"...H-Harry?!" Hermione asked and prodded Harry's arm with her finger.  
  
"Oh, uh, it was Draco..." Harry said, seeing his best friends but not really taking them in.  
  
Ron narrowed his eyes. "New pal wanted another Quidditch practice? Y'know, I'm sure he's a spy for the Slytherin team. Even if the games finished a month ago and we got the cup..." Ron pondered.  
  
"N-No...he just...had something to show me," Harry replied, his mind not even there, and walked off, alone, down the corridor. Ron stared after him.  
  
"Maybe Malfoy just broke the news that he was in love with his beloved 'Potter'," Ron joked bitterly, quite jealous.  
  
He didn't know how right he was.  
  
  
  
------- Please review!! 


	7. An Auror Touched

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing, adult themes here, as well  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
******* EXTRA NOTE: Again, thanks soooo much to my readers/reviewers!!! Reviewers especially, ya? *******  
  
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CHAPTER 7  
  
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Two days afterwards, the seventh years found out the positions they had been given as jobs. Harry and Ron had managed to grab spots as Hogwarts Aurors, despite the massive amount of applications that had flooded in for that particular role. Hermione earned the Transfiguration aid, Neville became a Herbology aid, Seamus was a Care of Magical Creatures aid (and promised everyone another bout of Hippogriffs very soon), Lavender was an Astronomy aid, Parvati a Divination aid, and Dean was a Hogwarts Auror. Mostly Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws became the fill-ins for Filch's or Hagrid's jobs. The rest were Hogwarts Aurors. Nobody was made a Potions aid - Snape declared at the breakfast the day they got the letters that he was extremely pleased no one had offered, as he would have replied to an application with a two-week long detention, lasting to the very last night of graduation. Draco, Harry heard, had become the only Hogwarts Auror that wasn't in Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff or Gryffindor.  
  
And speaking of Draco, Harry hadn't had a chance until now at talking to the boy since their "incident" in the hallway. It was only until after dinner, meeting totally by accident on the Quidditch pitch that they were alone to talk freely.  
  
"So.what was that, Draco?" Harry asked, after they had both sat in seats in the stadium, right in the very top, tucked into the corner of the stand where nobody could see them. The pitch was deserted, and the back of the stadium they were sat in faced the castle and the rest of the grounds. They had total privacy.  
  
"What, the thing I showed you in the corridor the other day?" Draco replied, putting his arms on his knees, letting his hands dangle forwards, looking out to the far goals.  
  
"Yeah. That's no ordinary magic. You managed to...stop time, and the feeling...man, that feeling..." Harry trailed off, leaning his head back on the wall. He blew a bang out of his face. Draco turned his head to Harry.  
  
"I dunno. I've been able to do it since I was very small. My...mother...showed it to me, just after my father started teaching me the ways of a Death Eater. She may seem just like my father on the outside - rude, cold and uncaring, but my mother really cares. She knew I didn't want to be a Death Eater, but she was afraid at upsetting my father...she's too deeply in love with him, you see, and doesn't want to injure their marriage. So she showed me this thing where...well, it's hard to explain, but she taught me how to stop time and enter this phase of self-being where all you feel is ecstasy at just being made of what you are: a sort of self- satisfaction, but to the extreme level where, in this sort of phase, you feel no worries; the only two emotions are lust, or reluctance - but that only occurs the first few times.  
  
"But the thing is, my father discovered she was teaching me her old family trait, and forbade the old magic to continue. But just because I stopped learning it, didn't mean I stopped using it, and my father never found out.  
  
"I guess you could say it's... a sort of masturbation with the mind. Except it's not that type of...want. It's just feeling good about yourself so much that it flows through you like blood so that it's the feeling of masturbation, just ten times over and it's in the mind."  
  
Harry blew out his breath. "Whoa," was all he could say. Silence spread between them like a pillow: it cushioned the unnecessary questions and caressed them both, letting one another know there was a friendship here, but Harry needed to break the quiet, needed to know the answer.  
  
"So...how come you stopped it so abruptly, and managed to touch me anyway?"  
  
"Well," Draco started, not daring to face Harry, "I managed to touch you with it...because...I have feelings for you. My mother told me that only people experiencing true love could connect in this way. I had to try it, Harry. After that thing by the lake a few days ago...well, that small kiss blew me away. I've never felt like that with a girl. Never. And we hardly even kissed....well, like we had the chance to, with Snape and Dumbledore practically leaping out the doors just in time."  
  
"So why'd you stop it so quickly?" Harry asked, trying to stop a blush from leaking over his face.  
  
"Oh. The time-lapse thing. Well, I've never been able to hold it for as long as I want. My mother was about to teach me that just before my father forbade it. At first, when I was being taught, I could hold it for a few seconds, and then it slowly expanded until now; and now it lasts about two minutes. I guess I've been learning with experience."  
  
Harry was silent. Could this be Dark Magic? If it was, Dumbledore would find out...but he hadn't yet said anything, so maybe, just maybe, he and Draco had a chance at being together, whether it was in the mind or not, without everyone being against them.  
  
He had to admit, that a gay couple wasn't heard of in Hogwarts. And it would be even more of a big thing if it were Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived; and Draco Malfoy, the Tom Riddle of their generation.  
  
Draco suddenly turned in his seat.  
  
"Like I said: I only managed to connect with you because I have feelings. So...I kind of need to give this to you," Draco said breathlessly, and put a hand behind Harry's neck.  
  
He pressed himself to the brunette: their lips locked, arms entwined and Harry leant back in his chair, letting Draco lean on him. Draco's tongue forced Harry's mouth open and slid inside, gently prodding the inside of Harry's cheek before sliding madly over every inch of Harry's mouth it could reach. Harry moaned into Draco's lips and he joined in: the Gryffindor curled his tongue to an angle and their tongues touched; the weather was warm so Draco pulled at Harry's robes and then undid the buttons of the shirt underneath. Slytherin hands roamed over a Gryffindor chest and Harry experienced something quite unlike Draco's other magic.  
  
Draco's hands worked wonders, sending sparks of electrifying lust through Harry's body as he rubbed Harry's muscles, his mouth moving down Harry's neck, licking and leaving a thin trail of welcome saliva. His lips eventually found Harry's nipple and he sucked hard. Harry gasped and pushed himself up in surprise and Draco pulled away.  
  
"What the hell was that?!" Harry panted, grinning wildly.  
  
"Dunno. Never gone for the nipples on a guy before," Draco replied, running slender, beautiful fingers through the brown-black hair in front of him. Harry shook his head. Draco suddenly laughed and reached a hand delicately, carefully, towards Harry's belt, letting the Gryffindor know what he wanted.  
  
"What, in a plastic seat?!" Harry gawped.  
  
"I'll do the handiwork," Draco smiled. Harry's cheeks flushed vibrantly, setting his emerald eyes into a glittering inferno. Draco gave out a lustful breath and undid Harry's fly, and then reached under the leg of Harry's boxers. His fingers roamed over a thigh and then found the crotch. His fingertips touched Harry's large flesh, and felt the steady throbbing.  
  
And then the bell rang.  
  
"End of break," Draco sighed, and buttoned up his friend's shirt. Harry couldn't move, still feeling the fingers against the most private part of his body. Draco gave a soft laugh and pulled Harry to his feet, managing not to fall over in the small aisle between the two rows of chairs. Harry hurriedly did up his pants, closed up his robes and they walked back to class, trying to wish away the extreme crimson that was dusted onto his cheeks.  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
"As Hogwarts Aurors, you will be required to set an example for the new seventh years, and to focus your concentration on the guarding of this school," McGonagall lectured. Half of the seventh years were lined up in the Great Hall after dinner.  
  
"This is NOT a job for chatting, or falling asleep against a wall thinking nothing will happen. Because, knowing your luck, it most probably will. Any sign, any movement; your eyes must be clear, your senses sharp. Anybody who got less than ten NEWTs has returned to class to choose another elective. You, all of you, know well the magic that is required to aid you in your job. And the magic that will not aid you, but that which you must guard against. This is the war against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It is ABSOLUTELY CRITICAL that you do not let your mind wander. This is just like a Muggle war. You will DIE if you see something and are not prepared! You will DIE if you fall asleep in the middle of a battlefield!"  
  
Harry shivered, stood next to Draco and Ron. His mind was now solely on his job as a Hogwarts Auror. Draco was hovering in the back of his mind, the tingling touch of the fingers echoing dimly. But he was now imagining hundreds of masked wizards, leaping over the Hogwarts walls and shooting the killing curse every which-way. He shivered, trying to block out flashes of green and the sound of rushing wind from his mind. The more he tried to forget it, the more he remembered a high laugh, and a Hufflepuff boy lying spread-eagled on strange soil -  
  
"To more detail on your job. One third of you will be allotted to what we have named an Internal Shift, and the rest of you on an External Shift. This means, for those of you on an Internal Shift, that you will be guarding the inside of the castle. Those on the External Shift will, obviously, be patrolling the grounds outside. These shifts will alternate daily so you all have a chance at both Internal and External Shifts. Any questions?" McGonagall stopped her pacing and crossed her arms, pursing her lips. No hands were raised, and she sighed.  
  
"I needn't remind you that we are in a severe war, whether it shows inside of Hogwarts or not. I apologise that you must live through it, and I also apologise beforehand for any injuries or deaths that might occur with your jobs. I just wish there was another way to keep our students safe without involving you all."  
  
Harry looked nervously at Ron, who shrugged, his eyebrows aloft.  
  
"You will report to me after breakfast at the Quidditch Pitch for a final meeting. That is all for now. Hogwarts Aurors, you are dismissed."  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
"Man. Talk about tense," Ron yawned, leaning back in a chair in the common room a few minutes later. He put his arms behind his head and closed his eyes, letting the flames of the Gryffindor fire warm him. Hermione was curled up to his side, reading about Skylo the Skilful.  
  
"Honestly, 'Mione, the exams are well over. You got the highest NEWTs in the school. What the hell are you studying for?!" Ron remarked, his eyes still closed and put an arm over his new girlfriend's shoulders.  
  
"Ron, I'm not studying, I'm just reading!" Hermione said with fake annoyance, and pinched Ron's thigh playfully.  
  
"Ow!" Ron cried, springing to a sitting position. "Can you believe her?!" Ron said to Harry, causing Hermione to laugh. Harry gave a fake smile as he sat in a chair away from the fire. He looked out the window and sighed, took off his glasses and curled into a ball. Draco returned to the front of his mind. All he could see was platinum hair and rainy-day eyes. He rubbed his own eyes and gave another sigh.  
  
Hermione stopped laughing. Ron stood up.  
  
"Harry...?" Hermione asked softly. She set her book on a low table at the side of the chair.  
  
Harry put his glasses back on and declared he was going to bed. Ron and Hermione looked at one another. Harry exited the room.  
  
"Something's up," Ron announced.  
  
"Something's DEFINITELY up," Hermione replied.  
  
"Reckon it's got something to do with You-Know-Who?" Ron said, suddenly biting his lip.  
  
"No, I don't think so. You know how he is when he's thinking about his parents or You-Know-Who and all that. He frowns and puts his hands to his head, or constantly runs his hands through his hair. But curling up into a tiny ball, sitting on a chair next to an open window on a freezing cold night? Something else is bugging him. I wonder what, though..." Hermione said, scratching her cheek.  
  
"He'll tell us when he's ready," Ron shrugged and sat back down.  
  
"Or you'll force it out of him," Hermione replied, and sat on Ron's lap, picking up her book.  
  
"Most likely," Ron laughed and closed his eyes again, holding Hermione close.  
  
  
  
------- Please review!!! 


	8. Healed

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
******* EXTRA NOTE: Again, thanks to all my reviewers. I love yooou!!!! *******  
  
-------  
  
CHAPTER 8  
  
-------  
  
  
  
"Hurry UP, Harry!" Ron sighed. They were the only two Hogwarts Aurors still left at breakfast. They were supposed to be on their way to the Quidditch Pitch for the meeting with McGonagall.  
  
"Alright already. Jesus," Harry snapped and slammed his goblet down.  
  
Seamus, the Care of Magical Creatures aid, looked up in surprise as a few drops of pumpkin juice splashed on his forehead. "'Sup with you?" he asked through his bacon.  
  
"Never you mind," Hermione replied, wishing she knew herself, and stood up, stretching. As a Transfiguration aid, she was to help McGonagall with classes, demonstrations and help the students in the class. The role of a teacher's aid was also to be the first substitute in line, should that teacher be absent.  
  
"My class starts soon," Hermione said, nodded to Harry and Ron and jogged off towards the staircase.  
  
Harry and Ron bade goodbye to everyone else and set off at a run towards the Quidditch Pitch. They arrived just in time to meet the frown of McGonagall, and hurriedly hopped into line, Harry on the end of the Gryffindor line next to Ron, with Slytherin on his right: or, in other words, Draco, as he was the sole Slytherin Hogwarts Auror.  
  
"Now you will all be splitting up into pairs: male/female pairs in other words. You will need the brains of the girls and strength of the boys if we come down to an attack. However. You will be graduating soon: all of your classes have been terminated so you can dedicate yourself to being our Aurors, and with this responsibility comes an expectation: just because you'll be paired with a person of the opposite gender, you will NOT spend your time doing the wrong things behind bushes. You are old enough to know what's wrong and what's right. Hogwarts is depending on you, so don't let your foolishness let us down. Also, DO NOT MOVE from wherever you are assigned to! That is very important! Now to your assigned positions and partners: you will stick with your partner whatever Shift. Your positions will stay the same too (obviously you will have two positions, depending on the Shift you are on.)  
  
"Ravenclaw, you shall be in charge of the Internal Shift for today. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, you shall be on the External Shift. Malfoy, you shall be on whatever shift the Gryffindors are on, as I have paired you with Potter. We seem to have a slightly smaller number of girls, I'm afraid.  
  
"Now to the more important things. If you see any sign of trouble, raise as many red sparks as possible. Anybody near the red sparks shall aid assistance to the pair that sent up the sparks, but people far away shall go a teacher as soon as possible. If there is trouble, we teachers shall deal with it unless we ask you for help. If nothing is found by the time we arrive, we shall go into Clearance mode. You shall thoroughly inspect your area, and send up green sparks if all is clear, if not, red sparks. If all is okay, then a few teachers shall assist you in your guarding for awhile.  
  
"As I said, anything strange, any movement...if something's wrong or suspicious, SEND UP RED SPARKS.  
  
"Now, you shall be placed no more than one hundred metres apart: Hufflepuff, you will stay around the castle walls, and Gryffindor, you shall be stationed around the grounds." McGonagall put her hands behind her back, and announced the partners. Ron was landed with Susan Bones of Hufflepuff, and was assigned to the outskirts of the forbidden forest, about ninety metres away from Dean and Hannah Abbott. Harry and Draco, with many apologies from McGonagall about the odd pairing, signed them to their favourite place in the grounds: the Quidditch Pitch.  
  
  
  
"Well, that was lucky," Draco grinned.  
  
"What was?" Harry asked, no longer angry and brooding now that Draco was around.  
  
"How we got landed together, and in this area of all places," the Slytherin replied, fingering his wand.  
  
"Yeah," Harry replied and smiled, leaning back against a pole.  
  
A few minutes passed, and suddenly, Harry had to ask.  
  
"Could you do it again?"  
  
"What?" Draco replied, standing up from the seat he had declared as his post.  
  
"That...thing. The phase of the mind you can do," Harry replied.  
  
"It's called Euphoria, and no, I can't." Draco replied, running a hand through his silver locks.  
  
"Why?" Harry asked, surprised.  
  
"Because McGonagall, as much as I hate her, said we were to pay attention at all times. And, as un-Malfoy-ish as it may seem, I think that, for once, we should finally pay attention to what she says. Something could go really wrong while we're...touching," Draco replied, scratching his shaven chin.  
  
"But whoever it is that might attack would have to get over the walls before they can get to this Pitch. And anyway, time stops while you do it!" Harry replied, frowning.  
  
"Yeah, but after the Euphoria, you're left all shaky and unstable, because you're not used to it. You don't wanna arrive at a Clearance with a red face and trembling limbs, do you?" Draco raised his eyebrows.  
  
"Aww, come on, just this once?!"  
  
"God Potter, I knew you liked breaking rules but I didn't know it was your obsession!" Draco exclaimed, then took two steps forward and murmured, "Harry...consider yourself a very lucky man you managed to persuade a Malfoy into doing something against his wishes."  
  
And then they touched.  
  
The birds halted in mid-flight, Ron's hand stopped moving as it was on it's way to stifle a yawn: the seats around them faded, everything went stark white and they were alone.  
  
"Draco..." Harry groaned, and they lunged into one another: arms embraced and stimulating energy poured from Harry's brain, down his spine and exploded just above his crotch as their lips locked. Bodies were pressed together, a knee was thrust up between two legs, rubbing madly but gently and the wild fury of it encircled them, poured through them, involved them and bound them with invisible strings.  
  
And then the heart of a Gryffindor healed. An empty chamber in Harry's heart had once been reserved for the love of his parents: reserved for the hugs, praises and pride that should have been given to him by James and Lily Potter. That chamber was supposed to be eternally empty and dark; it had been steadily widening and tearing as Harry grew older. But in this Euphoria, with the lingering lips, roving hands and carefully-placed emotions of Draco Malfoy, a thread entered one side of the tear, and crossed over to the other side. It laced over and over, and pulled the door towards a close. The darkness softened and the thread pulled tight: the emptiness was closed and suddenly everything exploded into wisps of happiness: Harry grinned into the pale lips and opened the gap between his legs and stood there while Draco's hands rubbed a sensitive place. His heart was no longer empty: his unspoken sadness was no more: he needed no woman in his life to replace his parents. He was happy, and Draco had healed the one thing that Harry thought would always be there. His misery disappeared.  
  
Harry moaned into Draco's mouth and the other boy replied by rubbing harder, his slender hands working furiously. Harry shut his eyes and gave a tight breath as the tiny volts of wild energy worked faster in a circle around his crotch and navel. Draco enjoyed seeing Harry in such a state and caressed his cheek, but then his eyes widened and whispered into Harry's ear, "It's ending!"  
  
Harry understood and pulled away reluctantly, and sat shakily in a seat as the world resumed and Ron covered his yawning mouth, the white caving into colour.  
  
"Ahh man, it doesn't feel that good in real life," Harry grinned.  
  
"That's the magic of Euphoria," Draco replied and smiled calmly as though he had just gone for a walk around the park.  
  
And so their afternoon wound away slowly, interrupted by trays of sandwiches and fruits, and flasks of pumpkin juice borne by magic, sent by the kitchen house elves. Harry started cracking a few jokes and telling Draco of Dudley and the run-ins that the Muggle had had with the occasional wizard. They were soon roaring with laughter, leaning on one another for support and that seemed more sweeter to the other than any kiss or touch they had ever shared.  
  
Eventually they calmed down, and they looked at one another, faces inches apart as Draco leaned on the pole next to Harry, and their grins slowly fading as their eyes locked. And then Draco moved forward, his lips barely a millimetre away from Harry's, and he whispered a word: "Oink."  
  
That set the both off again and their laughs lasted will into dinner, when they were dismissed from duty (but told that they were expected, with Hufflepuff, to be on an External Night Shift after dinner).  
  
Little did they know, but Ron had watched Draco and Harry laughing. Ron knew perfectly well that he and Harry would be uncomfortable to have each other's lips so close, even if they were best friends. And so he knew that Harry's "problem" wasn't a problem at all. As soon as Ron entered the Great Hall, he found Hermione and hurried her off to the library.  
  
  
  
-------  
  
  
  
"Ron, you can't just jump to conclusions just because they were laughing together," Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples.  
  
"No, their lips were like THAT," Ron protested, and held up two fingers that were so close they kept brushing against the other from natural trembling. Hermione sighed, and then frowned.  
  
"It doesn't mean anything. What, you've been his best friend for about seven years, and you're plainly suggesting he's gay?" Hermione chided.  
  
Ron stopped, realizing what he was saying, and then decided his best friend couldn't POSSIBLY be gay.  
  
"I reckon Malfoy's got him under a spell. They shouldn't even be talking to one another civilly! But almost kissing, and sharing jokes, and, and..." Ron started.  
  
"And WHAT, Ron?!" Hermione snapped, "You don't have any other evidence! Maybe, just maybe, Draco didn't realize he was that close and they turned to look at one another and he was shocked at how close he was!"  
  
"So why the whole getting closer thing?!" Ron demanded. It was lucky they were alone in the library. Their furious whispers were getting more heated by the second.  
  
"I don't know, Ron! But until I hear that something else's happened, I won't believe it! And anyway, you said they started laughing again after Draco had gotten that close, so maybe it was just a part of the joke!" Hermione finished angrily, refusing to let herself believe that not only had Harry become friends with the Slytherin Prince, but had actually fallen in love with the guy.  
  
She stalked away a few metres. A few seconds later, she turned around, ran back, hugged Ron apologetically, spun on her heel and went for dinner.  
  
  
  
------- Please review!!! Pretty please? O:) 


	9. Founders Fountain

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - low level swearing, adult romancy-thingo themes  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
******* EXTRA NOTE: Again, thanks to all my reviewers. I love yooou!!!! To anyone that has put me on their favourites list, or on Author Alerts, you get an extra cookie!!! *HUGS* *******  
-------  
  
CHAPTER 9  
  
-------  
Harry yawned and slid down the wall slowly, letting himself sit drowsily on the grass. His eyes drooped a little and he removed his glasses. His eyes could make out a thin, extremely pale, cream blur standing next to him calmly; it was poised, silent and Harry could feel an aura of pride emitting from it. It had silvery hair.  
  
"Get out of it, Harry!" the figure snapped, "if I'm not allowed to sleep, then neither are you."  
  
"Sorry Draco," Harry replied guiltily, and stood up weakly to continue the last hour of his External Night Shift. Hufflepuff were with them; Ravenclaw were told that they were strictly to do Internal Shifts only: no rotating was going to be done with the Shifts. McGonagall decided it would be better that way, so Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were doomed to be outside day after day after day...apart from weekends and holidays. Only one House at a time did those, and they shared those Shifts, as everyone wanted a weekend to themselves once in awhile. The good news to Harry was that he could stay here during the summers from now on, as he was about to be his own wizard after Graduation. Guarding the school was better than putting up with the Dursleys, although their sense of humour with presents might be missed once in awhile.  
  
"One hour left," Draco grinned sleepily, "And then Ravenclaw can wake up and come take over while we have breakfast," Draco grinned.  
  
Harry's head spun tiredly. "Or while we go to bed," he yawned.  
  
Draco laughed.  
  
((It's a pretty...nice sound, really, Draco's laugh: I haven't heard it that often... He should laugh more.)) Harry's mind whispered.  
  
Harry put his glasses back on.  
  
Silence blossomed between the two, and Draco walked a little way, stretching skywards, and as he did so, his short jumper slid up and revealed his lower torso. Harry admired the curve of Draco's lower back, and how the pale skin set of the slimness of his figure.  
  
And not too far away, red sparks exploded into the night air; a shriek soon followed, piercing the silence. Harry's fatigue immediately dissolved into waves of fear. His eyes tore away from Draco's body to look for the trouble, emeralds glittering with a fierce emotion that could only be defined with the word "danger".  
  
The sparks weren't that far away, so he and Draco set off at a sprint, wands at the ready. It had been Dean to send up the sparks, and it was Hannah Abbott that had screamed: the reason was immediately clear as he, Draco, Ron and Susan Bones arrived at the scene. Hannah was now on the ground, blood coming out of her mouth and torn stomach, and Ron was crashing through the near bushes, cursing loudly. Dean was next to him, blood trickling down the side of his face.  
  
"Ron! Dean!" Harry yelled, and ran to the two Gryffindors  
  
"A Death Eater! He ran round here just a few seconds ago," Dean yelled back, his voice high and panicky. Draco swore and knelt next to Hannah, cradling her head.  
  
"What a way to go, huh?" Hannah said sadly, and coughed, the warm crimson liquid trailing from her mouth down her blouse.  
  
"Damn, no you're not gonna die, you dolt," Draco told her, wiped blood from her cheek and looked up as Flitwick, Snape and McGonagall came tearing towards them, two Hufflepuffs in tow.  
  
"Potter, any sign of the Eater?" Snape asked harshly, knowing immediately whose work this had been.  
  
Ron shook his head to Harry, who passed the no on to Snape. McGonagall sighed.  
  
"Abbott," she said softly, conjured up a stretcher and she and Draco took Hannah to the Infirmary. Harry, Ron and Flitwick discussed what to do next, and it was decided that Flitwick and McGonagall (once she had returned) would aid the Aurors in their Clearance.  
  
A few minutes later, green sparks were sent up in every section of the grounds, the Ravenclaws were brought out and put on alert and the Gryffindors got off early. The Death Eater was never found.  
-------  
"Do you really think it was a Death Eater?" Ron asked, too nervous to eat: that was a rare thing never before seen. Ron always ate.  
  
"'Course. Question is, why'd he give out a few scratches and nick off?" Harry replied, also not eating. The exhaustion had been flushed from him and he felt wide awake. He could still feel soft adrenaline oozing around him, and he kept fidgeting and playing with his cutlery.  
  
"But how'd he get in, if he can't Apparate?!" Hermione demanded, wringing her hands. She had decided to join them at the Aurors' breakfast. Either she was afraid for the safety of Hogwarts, or she was terribly afraid that Dumbledore's wards and powers and Ministry men weren't enough. Or she was scared stiff that someone managed to defy the assurances of "Hogwarts: A History".  
  
"Who cares?" Harry replied, and picked up a slice of bacon on his fork. Rona and Hermione stared.  
  
"It's not like I don't care, y'know? It's just that there's no use panicking over it, especially when it won't get us anywhere. The fact is, Death Eaters can get in and Dumbledore needs to find out where and why. As I said, what I'm wondering is why get a glimpse of us, hurt a couple of teens and walk back out?" Harry stated, chomping on his food.  
  
"Well. I think they may just want to know where you Aurors are positioned," Hermione started, satisfied with Harry's reason of calmness.  
  
"Why would they wanna know that?" Ron asked, poking a pancake.  
  
"Well, it's like in those Muggle movies. You've gotta know where all the guards are stationed. It doesn't matter how powerful you are, there's still a chance that one guard, somewhere, will see you and will raise the alarm and you'll never have a chance. Think from their point of view. A load of guards, both students and official Ministry Aurors, are stationed around the castle. If they try to come in one way, but find a bunch of people standing there, then they're in trouble -"  
  
"Hermione," Harry sighed, "These are the servants of Voldemort -"  
  
Ron scowled and Hermione flinched.  
  
" - And it doesn't matter if there's one person or one hundred people in front of them to see their attack: Death Eaters kill whoever's in their path. Child, adult, grandmother...it doesn't matter to them! They'll just kill, and that's all. They don't need to know where we're stationed. They could come in through the front gates if there were enough of them at once. The only thing holding them back is probably Voldemort himself," Harry told them indignantly.  
  
"Why? Why would he hold them back?" Ron asked, his mouth open. His pancake had fallen off his fork, but not that he noticed. His eyes were too wide and too busy staring, dumfounded, at Harry.  
  
"The Great Dark Prat is probably too weak to go ahead with an assault upon Dumbledore's territory right now. Voldemort's just probably biding his time. The attack, if you can even call it that, was probably just a message, a warning, that we won't stay safe under Dumbledore's wing forever."  
  
"How can you call him that!?" Ron hissed, his tone no longer amazed but angry.  
  
Hermione looked uneasy.  
  
"Eh?" Harry asked.  
  
"How can you insult You-Know-Who so casually, as if you're teasing Goyle? You-Know-Who's killed hundreds of people, Harry, hundreds!! And you can say his name out loud, and call him something so trivial like that, and assume you know what he's up to. Harry, he's ten times greater than anyone ever born, I'm starting to think that no one can stop him. How can you just say those things about him, knowing how many of us, and Muggles, that he's killed, and treat the whole thing as if it's a joke?!" Ron's voice was now a tight whisper.  
  
"You think I treat this whole thing as a joke? You really believe I could think of Voldemort as a JOKE?!" Harry yelled. The few people in the breakfast hall at this hour stared at him. He was on his feet, glaring furiously.  
  
"God Ron! You can sit there and fear the almighty 'You-Know-Who' for his powers, his killings, and you can sit there and say he's unbeatable? Well did you ever think of Dumbledore? Sure he's old, but that doesn't mean his brain is as goddamned slow as yours, Weasley!!" Harry shouted, turned around and stormed off.  
  
"He's got a point, Ron," Hermione said quietly.  
  
Ron shut his open mouth, Dean snickered, not really caring what the conversation was about and also forgetting his partner had nearly been disembowelled, and Ron turned to Hermione furiously.  
  
"I told you!!" Ron hissed softly.  
  
"Told me what?" Hermione asked, raising her eyebrows and daintily placing a piece of toast in her mouth.  
  
"That Malfoy's got Harry under a spell. Harry never shouts at me that bad, not for something so serious!!!" Ron said, waving his arms wildly.  
  
"Oh Ron, not this again!" Hermione snapped.  
  
"First the closeness, then Harry's strange behaviour - "  
  
"I told you, I won't believe it until I see Malfoy doing something really insane with Harry. Until then, leave it," Hermione sighed.  
  
"Fine. Then we'll just have to catch him doing something. We'll have to catch Malfoy red-handed!!!" Ron cackled madly, grabbed Hermione's hand, dragged the girl from her breakfast and scuttled out the door, looking for Harry to spy on. They both quickly forgot about the Death Eater.  
-------  
"What's up, Harry?" Draco asked, as Harry stormed past him. Harry did a double take and smiled gently at Draco.  
  
"Nothing. So, where've you been? You weren't at the Aurors' breakfast," Harry said.  
  
"Helped Pomfrey with Bones. Poor thing was in a right state," Draco said quietly, and they both automatically walked towards the marble staircase.  
  
Neither of them noticed Hermione and Ron leaping from statue to statue, following them and listening to every word.  
  
There was a silence, and Harry realised they were walking near the dungeons.  
  
"Going to your place, are we?" Harry teased.  
  
"Nah, I'm taking you to the place I found a few years back. There's that many spare rooms and turrets and towers that nearly everyone adventurous enough can find a place of their own to think and be peaceful in," Draco replied.  
  
"So what's yours? Turret, room or tower?" Harry asked curiously.  
  
"Tower," Draco grinned cheekily.  
  
"Ooh," Harry laughed, and soon, Draco led him to a tapestry of a fat knight sitting on a terribly thin pony.  
  
"Wobbleton," Draco whispered, and poked that fat knight's belly. A little tiny doorhandle appeared, and they were soon inside.  
  
Ron walked to the tapestry.  
  
"What was the password?"  
  
"Wobbleton," Hermione replied, poked the belly and they went in the door after Draco and Harry. Once inside, they hid behind a massive statue of a fairy, and huddled against the corner of the wall, behind the roughly worked stone vampire.  
**  
As soon as Harry entered through the doorway, he was instantly amazed; no, he was awed. The place that met Harry's eyes was no ordinary tower. Somehow, they had gone from the dungeons to a massive turret that was tucked neatly into the back, left hand corner at the top of the castle. In front of them were fields: endless green fields. There were no windows this high or this far left. Harry wondered how it had stayed hidden.  
  
For it was a beautiful place: there were gardens resting upon the ancient stone: little gardens no more than a foot high with a tiny layer of soil, bordered by pebbles. These gardens held mostly exotic bonsais, with miniature, flowering shrubs of pink and white here and there. The pathway that led to the balcony was also of pebbles: all white and cream and smooth. There was only one statue in the place: it was of a fairy, stood against the corner, guarding the door.  
  
There was a massive grey water fountain in the middle of the tower: it was of a naked, yet very tall woman sat upon a lion, with a coiled snake sat and a perched raven behind her, on the lion's rump. The water cascaded from the woman's grey, stone hair that lay upon her shoulders; the water droplets fell from the granite strands and onto her bared breasts, and then hung delicately on her nipples until they softly tumbled into the bowl about the lion's paws.  
  
As all this met his eyes, Harry gasped, despite the voice that told him not to be so soft at a mere garden. Draco smiled, and pointed to the fountain.  
  
"Hot one, ain't she?" he teased.  
  
Harry inwardly cursed at a soft blush that suffused his cheeks as he watched another droplet fall from her right nipple.  
  
"It's that Helena Hufflepuff. Yeah, there were all Animagi, apparently. Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw...and Salazar Slytherin. That was them, alright."  
  
Harry tore his eyes away from the immensely detailed woman and looked out at the fields, walking softly over the pebbles and sat upon the jet lack marble bench that lined the tower's wall, and looked out through a gap in the nose-height battlements.  
  
"It's...awesome," Harry replied.  
  
They were silent for awhile, only the soft drip-drip-drip of the fountain and the humming of the wind punctuating the silence.  
  
And then, answering the unasked question, Draco pushed Harry onto his back on the wide bench and lent on top of him. He let his breath out in a half lustful sigh, half moan, and enveloped Harry's mouth in his own. He ran his hands through Harry's hair and within seconds had both of their robes and shirts upon the floor.  
  
Lips roving over the other's again and again: tongues touching and roaming; Harry groaned into Draco's mouth who answered by fumbling at Harry's belt.  
  
The Slytherin yanked off Harry's pants and Harry lay upon the bench in but his boxers. Draco pulled his lips away.  
  
"Man you're hot," Draco said hoarsely, causing Harry to blush gracefully, and slid a hand over Harry's muscles, and then under the right leg of Harry's boxers. Again his finger's touched Harry's throbbing flesh but immediately pulled his fingers away tauntingly.  
  
"Oh don't," Harry moaned, his mind upon nothing but the hot pleasure coursing through him.  
  
He moved his hands and pulled Draco's head to his and they lay there, kissing: Draco's slender figure delicately rested upon Harry's muscly build. Draco pulled away and again reached under the boxers, and he grasped Harry's flesh firmly, who gave a gruff groan and closed his eyes -  
  
"All Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Aurors are to report to their stations immediately for their next Shift," a squeaky voice interrupted. Eyes wide, mouths open, Harry and Draco both looked into the garden simultaneously to see a house-elf standing next to the fountain. Apparently, when permitted to use it, house-elves had a special from of their own Apparation.  
  
The little green thing with massive ears was looking to the side uncomfortably, and repeated his message, refusing to look at the two homosexual lovers, appearing very interested in a spiky bonsai.  
  
Harry swallowed, trying to get his voice back to normal after the constant, passionate kisses.  
  
"Um, thanks," he replied, and the house elf gave a hastily given bow and Disapparated so fast Harry had to laugh.  
  
"Guess we scared him, eh?" Draco said, his voice quite husky.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
They got properly dressed again, not noticing their mistake, and they returned to the Quidditch Pitch wearing the other's robes.  
**  
Behind the statue, Hermione and Ron had seen the whole thing through a crack between the fairy's tall legs.  
  
They were staring at one another, mouths open and eyes so dismayed that even Dean wouldn't have been able to laugh at their response.  
They stared at one another. Not for their life could they have imagined THIS was what Draco had done to Harry: they thought Draco was just playing some dirty prank to try and embarrass Harry, not to SEDUCE him. In fact, Hermione and Ron couldn't comprehend the fact their best friend was homosexual - they both found it disgusting and so wrong they immediately blamed Draco. They just wouldn't allow the truth to break through: Harry Potter was madly in love with Draco Malfoy. And so the only sensible thing to assume was that Draco had put some kind of spell over Harry.  
  
Ron growled angrily, and hissed at Hermione, "Now? NOW do you believe me?"  
  
Hermione's eyebrows creased sadly and she nodded. "Yes, Ron. Now I believe you."  
  
"That - that SWINE," Ron whispered furiously.  
  
And Hermione let out a soft sob, a tear escaping from her left eye, for, at that very moment, she realised there was no real spell to make someone fall THAT deeply in love: a Love Potion never lasted that long, anyway. And so she knew: she knew Harry had betrayed them for their eternal enemy, Draco Malfoy. ((I don't know how Harry can do it. Once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy.))  
  
She didn't dare tell Ron the truth. She knew that would send him to his wit's end. And so she merely nodded with his accusations, not being able to tell him the Harry had acted of his own free will. A tear followed the first.  
------- Review pleeeeease!!!!! 


	10. And It Begins

-------  
  
Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - medium level swearing, low romancy-thingo themes  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
******* EXTRA NOTE: God bless to mah reviewers!!! *HUGS* *******  
-------  
  
CHAPTER 10  
  
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"HARRY, OY, HARRY!" Ron yelled, jumping to see over the heads of many clustered students. Far down the corridor, Harry, who had been talking to Draco about their favourite Quidditch teams, turned and waved at Ron, who came hustling over, Hermione following timidly behind. The two had been arguing all night in the Common Room about confronting Harry (Ron had won), and Hermione had still not told Ron that Harry was acting of his own free will. But still, she felt very betrayed, and wouldn't say a word to Harry. She knew she was risking a friendship, but she couldn't bring herself to speak to Harry: not yet. She needed more time to sort out her feelings.  
  
"Could we, er, have a private word? Ron asked. Harry mumbled to Draco that they'd get together in the tower, and, knowing this wasn't his territory, Draco nodded, glared icily at Ron and Hermione and walked off, his careful strides carrying him around a corner.  
  
"C'mon, let's go to the Common Room. With the Ravenclaws on Shift, and McGonagall not needing Hermione, and all other people still in class, we should have some privacy," Ron said to Harry, and minutes later, they were all sat in the large, crimson armchairs.  
  
Hardly knowing what was coming his way, Harry sat back comfortably, and looked at Ron inquiringly.  
  
"What's up, Ron?" he looked at his thumbnail and chewed at it absent- mindedly, while he watched Hagrid on the grounds below, chasing Fang who currently had a Hogwarts chicken in his jaws.  
  
Ron took a deep breath, and suddenly knew not what to say. He could just start things slowly, letting the conversation drift slowly towards Draco, and let the news blur seamlessly into what they were saying. But no: Ron couldn't bear the thought of Harry being so unwittingly deceived. And so he blurted it out, in all the wrong ways.  
  
"Harry, we've seen you with Malfoy!" he said harshly.  
  
Harry jumped in his seat, turned to Ron, his half-bitten thumbnail long forgotten. His eyes were wide and suddenly he couldn't look his best friend in the eye. He removed his glasses and passed a hand over his eyes, then rubbed his face. His stomach descended down a steep cliff. This wasn't going to be a happy conversation.  
  
"What I mean is, we've seen you two...getting close, well, y'know, kissing and stuff, and, well..." Ron trailed off, suddenly embarrassed, and felt the back of his neck burning.  
  
Hermione sighed, and cut in. "What he means, is that he's seen you making out with Malfoy on more than one occasion, and seems to think that Malfoy has cursed you or bewitched you; something like a Love Potion, I believe. Harry...ARE you under Malfoy's influence?"  
  
She sounded calm, she knew. But she didn't feel it. What if she was wrong? For this was definitely the first time she wanted it. Hermione desperately wished Harry was under a Love spell, so she wouldn't have to feel so betrayed. After all, this WAS a Malfoy they were talking about.  
  
Harry put his glasses back on, and stared from one to the other. He didn't have to ask how they had seen him and Draco. He didn't want to know. If they had spied on him, he would have felt utterly exposed and deceived. If they had simply seen the two kissing, it would mean the whole school had, too. So he said quite simply: "Why do you think I'm under his spell, Ron?"  
  
Ron, not expecting such a calm answer, stared for a few seconds, then opened his mouth, and said quietly, "Malfoy has been our enemy for nearly seven years, Harry. Seven years!!! And these six months, especially, you two have been at each other's throats, wanting to kill each other. So when you suddenly become friends, that was bad enough. But then we see you two acting...GAY, well, it's just not like you, Harry!!" Ron's voice was now choked. Harry wouldn't believe he was taking it this badly. Hermione seemed quite overdramatically upset, as well.  
  
"Ron, who cares if he's been my enemy, he's changed!! He's not the way he used to be!! And who says I HAVE to like girls, Ron? Not everyone is straight, you know! I'm not attracted to girls like you are! Hell, I'm not even attracted to guys; I'm just in love with Draco! And that's all there is to it!" Harry spat angrily.  
  
"Draco. DRACO. DRACO?!?! You're calling him Draco, now?!" Ron demanded, clenching his fists.  
  
"That's his name, isn't it?!" Harry replied hotly.  
  
"You absolute idiot. He's leading you on! He's put you un-" Ron began quietly.  
  
And then Hermione spoke up.  
  
"Ron, Harry is acting of his OWN FREE WILL. There is NO spell to bind two people that close, or for that long!! Harry loves Malfoy, and vice-versa. You just have to deal with that!"  
  
She bit her lip, and looked at her knees. She didn't know WHAT to feel. Ron looked at Harry wildly, opening and closing his mouth, trying to from words, and gave up.  
  
"Alright...alright!" he spluttered, "So you... 'love' him, eh? Oh Harry. WHY? Why?!" Ron said sadly.  
  
"Why's it the end of the world?!" Harry asked, not understanding why it was such a big thing.  
  
"Because...because..." Ron faltered.  
  
"Because he's a GUY, right? Because he's a MALFOY, right? Because his whole damn family have been Death Eaters? Well he's changed, Ron. I don't care whether or not you believe me. But I KNOW that he's changed."  
  
Ron got up and walked towards the portrait hole, and ran a hand through his hair. He spoke to the back of the portrait.  
  
"Alright then. Fine. Be in love with a Malfoy. Hell, be in love with a guy for all I care. Just don't say I didn't warn you when something terrible happens. JUST DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU."  
  
The portrait hole opened then banged close.  
  
"You're alright with this though, aren't you?" Harry asked, turning to Hermione, his voice suddenly devoid of emotion.  
  
"I don't know, Harry. He HAS been our enemy for awful long. And he's the heir of a position under the wing of You-Know-Who. It IS strange that the Boy Who Lived should like such a person...see where we're coming from? It's not the whole guy/guy thing. I think that deep down, Ron could accept it if it was you and Dean or something. But this is Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy... Ron can't stretch his acceptance that far," she said softly, then stood up, nodded silently at Harry, went to her dorm and closed the door softly.  
  
Harry was confused. Utterly confused. His mind couldn't grasp everything that had just happened. All he knew was that he had a date to go to. A certain Death Eater's heir was waiting for him.  
-------  
"Hey, I knew you'd come," Draco whispered, and Harry fell into the Slytherin's arms. No need for words. No need at all.  
  
Draco's hands slid over Harry's tanned skin, just feeling the muscles and also the exhaustion that plagued Harry's being. Draco could feel the muscles tense up, and he knew something was wrong.  
  
"What is it?" he asked, concerned. "Something to do with those two, when they called for you just before?"  
  
"Look, don't worry about it," Harry replied, just wanting to forget his troubles. And so they simply tumbled into their private world of lust and need, and stayed that way for a long, long time.  
-------  
"Yeah Harry, I know you care for him," Ron insisted, "But it's just WRONG. I mean, find yourself a nice witch, and forget about Malfoy! I mean, come on, he IS a Malfoy!"  
  
It was the next day at breakfast. An Aurors' Breakfast. Harry was due back on the Quidditch Pitch in five minutes, and he didn't have the heart to fall out with Ron a week before their Graduation.  
  
"Ron, just forget about it, we've gotta go," Harry replied, rolling his eyes, and pulled the redhead up by his arm.  
  
"Bye babes," Ron grinned at Hermione, who waved her spoon at Ron, currently reading one of her many bibles to Transfiguration as she ate her Corn Flakes.  
**  
"Aah, good to be back, no?" Draco yawned, and sat in his usual seat.  
  
Harry nodded, and sat against a goal post. They were silent.  
  
Harry slipped into drowsiness, a sudden wave of fatigue wafting over his senses, and smothered his mind in a blanket of half-sleep, half-awareness.  
  
And his eyes closed.  
**  
  
(((All Harry could see was darkness. Eternal darkness. It stretched on and on, and he started walking in a panic, trying to make sense of his new surroundings. What was he doing here? He should be back with Draco on the Quidditch Pitch! If McGonagall found him asleep, he'd be mince meat.  
  
And a flash of silver caught his eye.  
  
"Draco?" Harry queried, thinking of that silvery mass of locks that were a Malfoy's trademark.  
  
There was no answer, and Harry ran forward, wondering what the hell was going on. And then he stumbled on nothing and fell, his feet giving way beneath him, and Harry fell through another dimension of darkness. And suddenly he saw Draco. Harry was still falling, and everything around him was a blur, apart from the figure in front of him. Draco was standing on air, not falling or indeed even moving. Draco was just standing there. And then he turned to Harry, and Harry's eyes widened in shock. Malfoy was holding a dagger. And in the other hand was a phoenix, blood pouring down the bird's chest. Draco had murdered Fawkes.)))  
**  
  
"HARRY! HARRY, GET UP!!! HARRY, QUICK! OH COME ON YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!!! WAKE - UP - YOU - LAZY - BASTARD!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"FAWKES!!" Harry yelled, sitting up, and then he opened his eyes. He was instantly aware that he had been dreaming. And also that Draco had been shaking him madly.  
  
"Wassamatta?" Harry asked groggily, straightening his glasses.  
  
"Only that we're being attacked, no big deal," Draco snapped, and hauled Harry to his feet. "COME ON, HARRY! We gotta do something!!"  
  
And then Harry took in the screams, and how the early morning was black. He knew he hadn't been asleep more than twenty minutes, so something was definitely wrong.  
  
"Death Eaters just appeared out of nowhere, and there's tons in the castle. Don't look at me so horrified, I TRIED to wake you up when one killed that Hufflepuff, Abbott...they're all over the place..." Draco trailed off as they huddled by the Pitch's entrance, hiding in a shadow created by the mysterious black sky.  
  
Death Eaters were, indeed, roaming the grounds, dragging students along with them, and throwing them into some kind of white portals, no more than 2 metres wide. They looked like the type of vortexes Harry saw in Sci-Fi muggle movies.  
  
The double doors to the castle were open and screams were constantly pouring from the windows, and halting in mid-shriek. Harry shuddered, not wanting to know how manly lives were ending abruptly; and suddenly, there was a massive flash of white light. Harry and Draco were thrown to their feet, wind suddenly blasting from every direction possible. The light slowly subsided, and they looked up in horror. Hogwarts was gone. Literally. The castle had...disappeared. In its place was an absolutely massive vortex, it's pale, liquid face swirling softly, almost invitingly.  
  
"We gotta help!!" Harry insisted, getting roughly to his feet.  
  
"But what can we do?!" Draco replied.  
  
"We gotta get everyone back!!" Harry replied, helping the Slytherin to his feet.  
  
"And just HOW do you plan on doing that?" Draco snapped angrily, as they stayed close to the stadium, hiding in the front row of seats.  
  
"We go where they went," Harry replied.  
  
Suddenly, a hoarse shout echoed around the grounds, and Harry watched in terror as Death Eater after Death Eater filed into the vortexes around the place.  
  
"C'mon, they're going!!" Harry cried, and they both scrambled to their feet. Harry saw that the vortex that had swallowed Hogwarts currently had no Death Eaters disappearing through it. They sprinted towards it, and the closer they got, the faster the vortex began to close.  
  
"HURRY!" Harry bellowed, and they lunged forward - and passed into another world. Everything was creamy white, like clouds, except it was all so liquid-like. They were spinning slowly as the milky substance passed over their skin, yet not making a mark.  
  
And then the light at the end of the tunnel shattered forth, and they were pitched into darkness.  
------- Please review!!!!! 


	11. Pain

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Author: Black Heart  
  
Title: Perplexed Alliance  
  
Rating: PG 13+ - medium level swearing, homosexual themes  
  
Author's Note: H/D slash, beware, muahahaaaaaaa!!!! Uh.yeah.R/R!! ^-^;;  
  
Disclaimer: Characters, names, places, etc belong to JK Rowling. Plotline belongs to ME.  
  
******* EXTRA NOTE: God bless the people that review!! MUAH! *HUGS* *******  
  
*******EXTRA-EXTRA-SUPER-NOTE: I have a certain thing in my fic here: I put it as (*). To see what I mean when you find it, scroll to the bottom of the fic for an explanation!!********  
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CHAPTER 11  
  
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All Harry could see was black. Just filthy darkness, enveloping his senses, smothering his sight.  
  
Everything was just...black.  
  
"Oh man," Draco moaned, "This is not good."  
  
They had landed on concrete. Black concrete in a room that was...how big? Harry couldn't see the walls, couldn't see an end. This room could be the size of Britain for all he knew. Everything was just pitch black. Draco was a shadow of pale cream, a mop of terribly bright silver on top. Harry was sure his hair was camouflaged.  
  
"Where the hell are we?" Harry whispered, helping Draco to his feet, not wanting to make a loud noise. And suddenly a terrible thought hit him: what if, in all this darkness, Death Eaters were watching them? Harry shuddered and didn't mention it.  
  
"No wait...I know where this is!" Draco said suddenly. Harry looked at him questioningly.  
  
Draco's voice went bitter as he said, "Father's training often provided the excuse to bring me here."  
  
"And just where is 'here'?" Harry replied hotly, getting more and more frustrated with the situation they faced.  
  
There was silence for a second, then:  
  
"Voldemort's mansion."  
  
And Harry's scar erupted.  
  
The Gryffindor fell to his knees, screaming in sheer agony as wave upon wave of pain crashed into his skull, his mind blacking out. He was barely aware of how the concrete below them crumbled; barely aware they were once again falling down, down, down...  
  
Harry's scar seared one last agonizing time; a flash of white flared through his mind, and then his senses shut down.  
**  
Draco was falling endlessly, an unconscious Gryffindor by his side. There seemed to be no sensible end to all this: they just kept going down.  
  
Suddenly, Harry erupted into a flash of light and just disappeared. Draco cried out and, arms flailing, but knew he could do nothing. And finally he landed. His skull smacked on cool wooden boards. His vision blurred, then blackened, and his mind floated to a state of unknowing.  
  
**  
  
Harry's eyes opened, and he looked upon a steelblue, purply-grey colour. It was surrounding him, supporting him and a weird light shone above it...water? Yes, Harry's lungs confirmed, he was indeed underwater.  
  
He sat bolt upright, coughing and spluttering. How long had he been unconscious? It didn't seem to have been more than thirty seconds, otherwise he would have drowned. He blinked, realizing the pain had gone, and looked upon his surroundings. He was in a lake. Definitely a man-made one, for it was inside another room with light blue walls, and looking up he saw the roof of the black room he had previously been in, and the remains of the crumbled floor.  
  
This lake was only about waist-deep; again he saw that it was a stellblue, purple-grey colour, and wasn't transparent. It was more like a pasty sort of texture. There were also weird plants here and there, protruding out of the water. They had grey-blue stems, a few metres tall and about the width of Harry's middle finger, with a sort of electric-blue bulb on the top. There was only about two petals to each bulb. Harry had never seen the likes of a place like this before.  
  
((Despite the fact that Voldemort's an evil bastard, you can't say he isn't artistic...)) Harry thought, still floating up and down, his ass bumping gently against the cemented floor. He stood up, made sure his wand was still in his pocket and wrung out his sodden robes. There was a sort of shimmery purple colour left on his clothes where the water had been.  
  
Very ironic, for a place such as Voldemort's castle.  
  
And then Harry realized.  
  
He was alone. Utterly alone. Draco was missing: nowhere to be found. Harry's mind was pitched into extreme worry and he splashed and stumbled through this immense lake, trying to find the Slytherin.  
  
"It's no use, he's not here!" Harry said after a minute or so, his voice strangely shrill and panicky. He took a deep breath and looked at things rationally: he had to get out of this room and find everyone: Dumbledore, the students...the castle as well, never mind just Draco. He looked around for a door, and seeing how there were only walls to his left and right, concluded it was a VERY long lake. He ran dead ahead for about two minutes, the strange water splashing up around him, his robes holding him back with their saturated weight. Eventually he came to a strange door. It was black, made of solid metal, and had a massive, lilac lily painted onto it, the detailing of the petals done with surprising diligence. The handle was silver, and very slim; it was a curved, crescent moon shape. Harry tugged on the handle, but the door didn't budge. There was no lock on the door, so it had to have been closed by magic. He sighed and banged his head against the centre of the lily.  
  
A weird, resonating tinkling sound (*) echoed around the room and Harry looked at the door in surprise. To his sheer and utter shock, his mother's face was upon the lily: indeed, Lily Potter's face smiled at him gently. Harry's mouth opened and closed, trying to ask questions, yet could not fathom just what was going on. Confusion, longing and loneliness coursed through him as his mother smiled at him sadly, and the door swung open silently. Harry found he could only walk out of the door in numb surprise, water from the lake spilling around him as he exited the room.  
  
**  
  
((((((("Arise, young Malfoy.")))))))  
  
Draco's brain churned back into motion and he moved his head to the left, still laying stomach-down on wooden floorboards.  
  
His eyes cracked open they took in the roaring fire that was burning within a colossal, brick fireplace. The flames gave light to a green thing laying upon the floor. Draco's vision cleared and he looked upon Nagini.  
  
Fear, and extreme foreboding, exploded into Draco as he moved his eyes and looked at a slim, pale wizard sitting in a royal-green couch, his spidery fingers resting lightly upon the armrests.  
  
"Voldemort," Draco whispered.  
  
"Indeed. Let me cut to the chase," Voldemort said in his terribly icy voice, sneering down at Draco as the Slytherin didn't dare move from his position.  
  
"Why have you attached yourself to my enemy?" Voldemort said it mockingly calm, as though asking the boy why he had eaten a cookie right before dinner.  
  
Draco found his muscles and scrambled to his feet. He swayed, but steadied himself and resolutely refused to show fear as he moved away. He backed away into the corner next to the fire, nervously watching Nagini, who hadn't noticed him and was still hissing in its sleep.  
  
Had Draco still supported this Voldemort, he wouldn't have been afraid. But now that he was a traitor to the Dark side, he wondered what was to come of him, now that he was less than 5 metres away from Voldemort himself.  
  
"Answer me, Malfoy! Why have you betrayed your name, your family, your father...and me? Why? Oh, I see... your hatred, hmm?" Voldemort gave him a sickly smile and calmly folded one knee over the other, and supported his chin in his hand. He looked long at Draco.  
  
"Yeah: I hate you. I HATE YOU! I 'betrayed' you because I never wanted anything to do with the Dark side! And because of...Harry, alright?!" Draco replied hotly. He expected the Cruciatus curse at the very least for saying such a thing. Voldemort simply shook his head.  
  
"I surmised as much. But... I can read your every thought, young Malfoy. You 'love' Harry Potter, do you? Care for him in a way that 'you've never felt before'? Well, you lie to yourself," the Dark Lord whispered, and unfolded his legs. A fire started to rise in his crimson eyes.  
  
Draco pressed himself against the wall as the Dark Lord got to his feet and came closer, but managed to asked bravely, "What are you saying?"  
  
"Oh, my dear Malfoy: Harry was lying to you. Potter has never cared for you. He simply wished you to be at peace instead of being my slave. He wanted your alliance to Dumbledore's side. He never cared for you as a lover," Voldemort said sweetly, then licked his non-existent lips and hissed angrily, yet still in English, "How could you believe such lies? Why throw away the power you were born with? Why disgrace your family's name and throw away my offers, for a petty feeling that was never true?"  
  
Draco's eyes widened as Voldemort came to him and caressed his cheek with those tender, white fingers he possessed.  
  
"Harry Potter knows nothing of what you are," Voldemort said, his voice gentle, now: almost a low purr. "He thought he could change you, make you a 'better person'. But I, Draco, I know what you are. A powerful wizard - no... an extremely powerful Slytherin. I seek to employ those powers you hold. Do you know how powerful you could be, with me by your side?"  
  
Draco narrowed his eyes but didn't dare push Voldemort away from him. The Lord leant close, his lips next to Draco's ear.  
  
"You were put into Slytherin for a reason. You were born with those powers for a reason. You were always meant to be by my side. We were both meant to be Lords of Darkness," Voldemort whispered these last words and before Draco knew what was happening, his lips were enclosed within those of Voldemort. The slender hands of the Dark Lord ran down Draco's chest and a knee was thrust between his thighs. Draco gave a grunt with his throat as the knee rubbed madly against his crotch. ((What the hell is going on? What is this asshole doing to me?)) Draco's mind screamed. He felt the lips against his curve upwards into a smile as Voldemort read his thoughts.  
  
And then an elbow connected with his head, the pair of soft lips tore away from his own as a fist slammed onto his cheekbone. A hand grabbed his throat and Draco was thrust upwards and then down to the floor.  
  
"Pathetic homosexual. Don't you know a master when you see one, boy? I have the right to KILL you for your deceitful acts against me! I wish nothing more than to teach you and your lover-boy Potter what it costs to cross Lord Voldemort! And yet I told you: I seek the powers you own, and so I will make you mine once again. Your father would be terribly ashamed, young Malfoy," the icy voice sneered at him, and again Draco experienced the pain that can only be felt when one is having the Dark Mark burned into one's skin. The pain seared up through Draco's chest this time instead of his arm; and through his shrieks, Draco heard the door slam. He was left alone with his agonising pain as his screaming escalated.  
  
**PLEASE REVIEW  
  
(*) - Anyone played Abe's Oddyssey? Well, the sound I described here is like the bell you ring to summon Elum. Ring it twice, and on the second time, turn up the volume and listen really close to the speaker, and after you hear the BONG-BONG, listen really hard and you'll hear this tinkling sound after it. It's really rather pretty-sounding, like chimes. ^_^;; 


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